the time traveler’s wife

the sad truth about films based on best-selling novels is that they often never turn out quite as good as its source. being a gigantic fan of both rachel mcadams and eric bana, it therefore pains me to admit this work falls into that lackluster category.

the premise is intriguing. a genetic anomaly causes bana to involuntarily jump to random points in his own timeline. this naturally causes great inconvenience; and where love is concerned creates much opportunity for angst. however, typical of book adaptions, the richness and complexity of the original narrative is greatly lost in the process. the film side-steps the writer’s intention of time-travel as a metaphor for communication and ends up as a rather pedestrian tale of an almost-normal couple locked in a cycle of bickering and making up.

don’t get me wrong. this is still very watchable despite the wanting script and despite the two leads being a little lightweight in this. the film is lovely to look at and listen to, and there are powerful scenes which hint at the possibilities this work could have been. a unique love story like this deserved more than such a nondescript treatment.  at the very least, i was inspired to read up on time travel after the show. now that was fascinating.