The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discuss

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

Minor spoilers, be warned...

I gave it an Above Average, though I think part of that may be residual love for the book rather than for this movie. This reminded me a lot of the treatment of Dune: Messiah in the SciFi channel's Children of Dune miniseries; they hit many of the high points of the novel, the parts I've been looking forward to seeing onscreen ever since I found out there would be a movie, but they didn't dwell on anything, didn't really give anything time to sink in, and I question whether someone who doesn't already know the book will be able to follow the movie well. At times it felt like the book running on fast-forward.

A lot of things that came straight out of the book were nice to see, but they're not explained at all in the movie. How is anyone who hasn't read the book supposed to know the significance of Henry's running, or the haircut? Especially in a movie that only clocks in at a bit over 1.5 hours, I wish they'd taken an extra 15 or 20 minutes to explain the details more fully, or to let scenes breathe a bit.

Eric Bana is surprisingly good as Henry, and it's really more my fault than his that a few scenes sounded like Nero reading the Time-Traveler's Wife. He even looks like I pictured Henry, even though I pictured two different actors when I read the book. I guess credit the makeup department also there.

Rachel McAdams as Clare I thought was one of the movie's weaknesses. I'm not familliar with her other work so I'm not sure if it's just the way she is or the way she chose to play Clare, but she lacks the fire of Clare from the book.

I didn't think the girls they got to play Alba looked quite like I pictured Alba, but they definitly looked like they were the same person, kudos to the casting folks for that, and particularly the older Alba did a great job in the role, her scenes were beautiful.

Most of the rest of the cast is okay to good, but barely in the movie. Most notably Ron Livingston as Gomez, who I've seen a lot of people express reservations about, I thought was great in the few scenes he was in. He didn't look like Gomez is described in the book, but he embodied the character and made it his own so that that didn't matter. Criminally underused.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

^I agree with just about everything you said, but I gave it an excellent.

I loved, loved, loved Eric Bana in this role. If I didn't think he was a hottie before, I do now

Rachel McAdams was good too, but lacking a certain something I was expecting from Claire...a bit more 'oomph' perhaps? I wish we'd seen a bit more Claire/Henry interaction from her growing years.

With the size of the novel and the time allotted for a film, they did well in keeping most of the scenes that carried the most powerful emotions. When Henry first meets Alba *sniffle*

I was a little dissapointed in the glossing over of the 'science' of the 'science fiction' part of the book. Also, putting Henry in the wheelchair instead of what happens to his feet in the book felt a little wrong to me. I was kinda dissapointed in not having the final scene in the book either.

I did, however, watch this movie feeling no time had passed!

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

I was struggling to describe what's missing from McAdams' portrayal of Clare; "oomph" is a good way of putting it.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

I can understand the wheelchair instead of feet thing. I haven't seen the movie yet, but having him lose his feet wouldn't carry the weight it needed to if, as was said, the point wasn't made about how vital Henry considered his ability to run. The fact that he always arrives naked makes the health of his feet extremely important, and if they didn't touch on that in the movie, then losing his feet to frostbite just wouldn't have the same impact.

That said, it's one of the most vital emotional elements in the book, and I'm sad to know that it wasn't addressed in the movie.

I don't know if I'm going to get to see this before tomorrow. *whine*

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

Okay, I did manage to see the movie tonight, and I was surprised at how delighted I was with it. I am in complete love with Eric Bana as Henry. And Rachel McAdams was much better as Clare than I anticipated. The film didn't carry the weight of the book, but I honestly don't think that was possible. What we did get was I believe the best effort that could have been made toward putting the story on screen.

I'm also pretty sure that my love for the book provided a significant bias in the movie's favor.

But honestly, I hit a 10pm showing, and the theater was full. People seemed to enjoy the funny parts, and I heard more than one person sniffling. Good signs that the piece was hitting the emotional notes it needed to.

The sisters who played Alba were a true joy to watch. Very sweet. And Henry's mother was just perfect.

Best thing about the movie - the use of the "Lo How a Rose" melody throughout. I have a new, firm intention of using that as a wedding march should I ever be granted a ceremony.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. The effects of involuntary time travel on a relationship, the tragedy of it all, everything. It didn't go too deeply into Clare missing Henry for weeks at a time, but with everything else going on, I can let that go. Surprisingly, the plot wasn't convoluted or confusing either. I'd put this one on the low side of 'excellent'.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

Well, considering "wife" is in the title of this story, I also agree there should have been much more focus on Clare, and how it affected her.

It will be interesting when the DVD comes out to see how many deleted scenes of hers there will be. (And why they were cut or trimmed)

--Ted

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

Saw it this afternoon, definitely an "Excellent", one of the best films I've seen this year. Like the book, I loved it.

The casting was perfect, although the film did seem a bit rushed in places due to (obviously) condensing a 500 page book into a 100 minute movie. Still a very good job.
And I'm not ashamed to admit I welled up at various points, notably Henry speaking to his mother on the train, and his first meeting with Alba at the zoo.
And like Sakrysta said, the girls playing Alba were perfect.


One little nibble though, I can't remember if was dealt with in the book, but how did they explain to the police the nature of Henry's death?

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

I don't remember it being dealt with in the book either.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

If the film had been longer I would have liked to have seen more of Henry interacting and teaching his younger self, maybe a bit more of him in the meadow with Claire growing up, and the post-death scenes of him hanging with Alba.
I was also wondering if there was gonna be another scene at the end, as in the book of old Claire in 2053, but alas. I guess it would depend on the old age makeup working or not, if it looked silly it'd pretty much ruin the ending of the movie.

Still great, I'll definitely get the DVD, and maybe another visit to the cinema may be in order

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

Actually, the book itself doesn't focus on Clare in the way that you mention, Ted. The book is pretty equally balanced between Henry & Clare's perspectives, with (at least in my mind) a slightly larger emphasis on Henry's perspective. I never reallly felt like the book was trying to tell the story of "the one left behind" at all, at least not to the exclusion of the story of "the one doing the leaving." In fact, the movie was more focused on Clare's perspective than Henry's - we saw so little of the events of his travels compared to the events of the present.

I'm not sure how I feel about the film's pacing. To me, it felt like we got to married life REALLY fast. And overall, the screenplay felt too linear. The book does move in chronological order with Henry's present (at least, as far as I remember), but there's a real sense of a discontinuity of events as he constantly travels backwards and forwards. I know that might make for a difficult screenplay, and it seems they kept it to a minimum of vital events, but it did have an effect on the story's impact.

The ending is probably the only thing where I think they actually improved on the book. I found it much more satisfying than Clare having to wait until she's at death's door to see him again. They made the same point they did in the book - about Henry wanting her not to spend her life waiting for him to show up - and I liked this way of making the point better than the book's way.

One little disappointment I had with the movie was Henry's method of proving himself to Dr. Kendrick. I can't think of any reason to yank the emotional impact of Henry's knowing that Kendrick's baby would have Down Syndrome. The grant was a throwaway piece of information that had no resonance, whereas what happened in the book emotionally bound Kendrick to Henry in an immediate, permanent way. And, not to be mean, but I'm sick to death of seeing Stephen Tobolowsky every time I turn around. Can't they find someone else for a change? He really gets on my nerves.

Ooh, something I did really appreciate about the movie was how they didn't minimize the effect of all the miscarriages. That was a very effective sequence, very faithful to the book.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

I don't normally cast books when I read them. Somewhat surprisingly, then, I pictured Kendrick as Andre Braugher, even though I knew that all of the characters in the book were white Anglo-Saxons, though not necessarily Protestants. (Okay, Henry's actually of French descent, but still.) I'm not sure why, but the racial composition of the book bothers me, and it always has.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

We just saw this movie, and we liked it. I think ERIC BANA and Rachel were perfect and it had me tearing up at times. BRAD PITT is the executive producer, which makes me think that with out him, it doesn't get made.

Anyway, my wife cried so YOU know it has to be good....anyone in this thread who didn't like the movie is just simply wrong. It is a very good movie, though it plays more as a chic flick...

Rob
scorpio

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

^ No, it could've been made without Pitt... only with a happy ending, maybe a crime/terrorism subplot that Henry can stop, an affair for Claire and some men in black government types who want Henry for their own purposes.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

I think you're being a bit hard on Pitt. He's a good actor. 12 Monkeys..Fight Club...Seven are ALL very good movies. But he is listed as an executive director.

Rob

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

I don't think you read my post right. It had nothing to do with Pitt.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

You are right...sorry.

Rob

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

I'm not going to post anything, because, apparently, I already did as FailedLurker!

Every single thing you said matches my thoughts exactly.

I've read the book 4 times, and listened to the unabridged audio 3 times. I know this book inside and out.

I'm reluctant to take Mrs. Alpinemaps to see it, because she knows how much I love the book. I don't know if she'd follow it, or know the significance of things the way I do.

I realized the movie couldn't do the book justice, and I'm okay with that. I admit I was a basket case in a few scenes, because I knew what they meant, even if they felt different onscreen.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

I'm afraid the movie left me cold. My girlfriend and I have both read the book and while we didn't hate the movie, it didn't really do much for either of us.

It just felt like an adaption, like they shot key scenes from the novel and strung them along in linear order in hopes that there would be an overall story. Claire kept saying she loved Henry, but we never really see why. In fact, it felt like her emotional arc was "OMGI'MSOINLOVE" to "I hate being the left behind wife" to "I hate that we can't have babies" to "I love having a baby!" There also wasn't much development of Henry's time traveling, as has been mentioned up-thread. What about the desperation of his situation? What about his running? What about how screwed up he was until Claire? We got bits and pieces, due to scenes being faithfully adapted from scenes in the book, but not a lot of depth.

It made me realize that a movie can't just be big scenes and epic declarations. It needs the little in between moments to really sell the love. It needed more than the time travel, it needed the everyday stuff. Even the parts that involved time travel, such as the meadow, were incredibly cut back. We saw young Claire meet Henry, get jealous over him being married, and their first kiss when she was 18. Where was the wonderful, wise man she touted him as at the beginning of the movie? Why would she be so attached to this guy? She tells us but we never see it. It's the little moments of them bonding and her falling in love with him--and then later him with her when they're in their 20s--that would sell the big moments of Alba's birth and Henry's death even more.

Like I said at the beginning of the post, neither of us hated the movie. There were moments that I liked as well. I liked the scenes with Henry and Alba. I liked the montage of Claire being left behind. I liked the scene with Gomez and Henry before the wedding. Most of all, I liked the Henry's handprint disappearing as he died, tied into the scene we saw of him earlier looking through the window. It was the only part of the movie that I can remember it actually being a movie--a visual medium--and not a filmed book.

 

Re: The Time Traveler's Wife (McAdams, Bana, Livingston) - Grade/Discu

Saw it yesterday, really liked it.