Meet Poofy, The Husband Who's Never There
Written: Sep 08 '09 (Updated Sep 09 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: atmospheric, interesting
Cons: reminds women of the one thing that upsets them the most
The Bottom Line: An interesting film but not another Benjamin Button
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| bilavideo's Full Review: The Time Traveler's Wife |
As romances go, The Time Traveler's Wife has one fatal flaw. It's a fantasy based on a reality that drives women insane: Men are never there!
Meet Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana). He's a lot like Adam Sandler in Click, except he doesn't have a remote control. As a result of a traumatic incident that happened when he was six (Alex Farris), Henry has this habit of poofing back and forth through time. To be more specific, he keeps showing up at different parts of his own life. This is where he meets the love of his life, Clare (Brooklyn Proulx). But poofing through time, like making yourself vomit to keep the weight off, is a habit that may begin voluntarily but one that eventually takes on a life of its own. Before you can say, "Where the Hell is Harry?" our hero is off to the races somewhere else. Quite often, that means that Clare (Rachel McAdams) is left holding the bag. He buys her a house. Poof he's gone. He knocks her up. Poof he's gone. This guy is a real poofer.
Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin (Jacob's Ladder, Ghost, Deceived, Deep Impact, My Life, Stuart Little 2) is no stranger to fantasy. Adapting the novel by Audrey Niffenegger, he constructs a tale that is both sweet and poignant. Henry's trauma keeps sending him back in time, though perhaps not to the exact same points, making his early moments with Clare tinged with the future. Each time she sees him again, he has come from some point in their future. On the romantic side, this means that she sees their future in his eyes. On the less romantic side, it also means that the mystery, gripping her early on, has an explanation, one not quite so romantic or so endlessly compelling.
There's something tragic in the man who can never stay in one place, but it's got to be maddening for the woman who can't put her life on hold between visits. Is this the mythification of yuppie career-inspired long-distance love or just a ripoff of Slaughterhouse Five? I don't know. I just know that it brought a tear to my wife's eye, which was enough for me. When your wife drags you to a flick you'd never see at gunpoint, the best thing you can do is nod your head and smile. The last thing you want to do is poof your way to the snack bar. Women don't like that, even if they'll pay to see it in a multiplex.
Director Robert Schwentke (Heaven!, Tattoo, "Lie to Me") does a nice job of putting into pictures what Niffenegger put into words. Even if we can all agree that watching Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams for two hours is hardly a waste of time, Schwentke's direction adds to the magic of the story. His use of colors - light and dark - as well as iconic imagery, helps transport us with Henry. His sense of pacing also keeps the story flowing, never dragging.
In the end, though, there's something about making a movie about a guy who's never there that just snaps the willing suspension of disbelief. They might as well make a movie about a guy who leaves his socks on the floor. I don't care if it's Eric Bana or George Clooney or Russell Crowe or Christian Bale. No amount of goo goo eyes and violins can prevent the unromantic flashbacks of the man who wasn't there. Women will pine for the boyfriend who isn't there today but will be there tomorrow, but once the rings are exchanged and the deal is done, there's basically one rule you don't break: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, you better be there.
Or you better be Eric Bana.
P.S. One of the complications is that Henry never gets poofed with his clothes. What the story lacks in magic, Eric Bana apparently makes up in . . . magic. All I know is, everytime this guy went streaking through time, I could think of any number of other places I'd wished I'd poofed to. And my wife wouldn't mind if I did.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Girl Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Plot
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Member: Bill Kilpatrick
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