As a soufflé, The Time Traveler's Wife falls flat at first, only to rise again in the final stages of cooking to become a passable trifle. In this tale of star-crossed lovers, a lonely Henry (Eric Bana) involuntarily jumps back and forth in time, but comes to love Claire (Rachel McAdams), who returns his love in spite of not knowing how long he'll be around or what age he'll be the next time she sees him. The director tries for a tone of poignant whimsy, but slow pacing and a Lifetime Movie-ish score (that hits the viewer over the head with the emotions she or he is supposed to feel) undermines his effort. Only late in the story do unexpected complications bring enough richness to the proceedings for the film to come close to achieving its aim. The lead actors are appealing, and attempt to breath life into stick-figure characters. Bana tries for a brooding soulfulness that might have been achieved by a young Richard Gere. McAdams, so good in previous films, can't quite pull off making the long-suffering Claire a well-rounded character in her own right rather than merely a reflection of Henry's plight. Two actresses in small but pivotal roles (one a child actor and another playing Herny's mother) steal the scenes they're in. One science-fiction contrivance is that, when Henry travels through time, he disappears like a Chesire Cat, leaving his clothes behind. This convention allows for many shots of a naked Bana (above the waist and from behind), but introduces a silly sub-plot about how Henry struggles to find clothing each time he travels. McAdams appears nude briefly, apparently to bring a kind of balance. The movie has been dubbed a "romantic dramedy," but romantic drama might be more accurate. Having not read the novel on which the film was based, I can't gage how successful the film is in translating from page to screen, but taken on it's own, this version of The Time Travelers Wife is a partially-risen soufflé, tasty enough but full of air.
Review of The Time Traveler's Wife
