The Time Traveller's Wife
20 August 2009, early morning
I watched The Time Traveller’s Wife last night. The movie, like the book, is about the relationship between a time travelling man and his wife. (The book is excellent, well worth reading.) I wasn’t expecting much. The movie definitely exceeded by meagre expectations. People complain about the casting, but I honestly didn’t have a real vision of either character in my head. (I suppose I imagined someone scrawnier playing Henry, but who doesn’t like Eric Bana?) The movie strips away much of the book, leaving the core story more or less intact. The film manages to present a coherent tragic love story, but sacrifices a lot of the nuance present in the book. The characters in the book are a lot more interesting, and a lot of the side characters are a lot more fleshed out. There is a lot of conflict removed from the movie, making it feel at times like a typical hollywood romance — except for the whole time travelling thing. The movie is shot and edited quite well. There are several sequences that quickly show the passage of time, how Henry manages to survive his time travelling escapades, etc, that are much longer narratives in the book. I think the actors did the best they could, considering the premise for the film is kind of ridiculous. (It takes real talent to say, “I’m a time traveller,” with a straight face.) Shima cried, though that’s not saying much. It’s an enjoyable enough romance film.
To its credit, it didn’t seem as long as Benjamin Button.
by Dave on August 21 2009, 10:11 pm #