Friday, September 18, 2009

PBB Capsule Movie Reviews: The Time Traveller's Wife

Starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams (and Ron Livingston for, like, three scenes)

[Trailer]

If you watch the trailer, you pretty much get the gist of the movie. I was willing to give it a chance, and the fact of the matter is, if Rachel McAdams filmed her last five trips to the grocery store, I'd probably be interested in watching it. She's just gorgeous. Unfortunately, the grocery-store idea would have been more compelling than Time Traveller's Wife, which ultimately didn't say anything about the human condition or the eternal power of love or any other cliched theme you hoped would appear to give the actors something worthwhile to do or say. Instead, the movie did its best to completely sidestep any of the thorny implications that any sci-fi nerd knows are inevitable when discussing time travel. Further, there were moments of potential drama that were glossed over so nonchalantly that I was getting frustrated with the film. Then I realized my problem: taking the film to be anything other than a cash-in on the sappy, romantic, Nicholas-Sparks-loving demographic. And as someone who appreciates a decently-constructed chick flick, when even I'm disappointed you know there's a problem.

Final Verdict: Just pretend you've travelled into the future to the point where you've already seen the movie, and don't bother going to the theater.

2 comments:

Jaimie Teekell said...

I'm noticing a trend with the fantasy genre. That is, use a fantasy gimmick then don't elaborate on the fantasy gimmick at all, which is what the fantasy genre is ABOUT. Rather just use the fantasy gimmick then proceed to tell a story you could have told without the fantasy gimmick. I'm thinking of Twilight. It's disgusting and cheap and exploitation. Money making scheme!

Jen said...

Too bad the movie was so sappy, the book was fantastic... IMO anyway. I kind of got that it was going to hit the emotional end of the spectrum when I saw the previews, and avoided it. Like I said, the book was fantastic - also very emotional, but in a very real and human-connection way. I wish there could have been a different way for it to end - even though I have to admit that it was an inevitable ending. Good stuff. Read it, if you haven't.

(Do you find it annoying when people add the "H" to IMO = In My Humble Opinion ? I do. If you're going to give your opinion, at least admit that you're not actually humble about it, if you have something to say, just say it, and don't pretend that you think your opinion isn't very important - it's yours!)

Anyway.