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

[Bad Bishop]

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

I graded it Average, but when I rent it again in a few months I might like it more.

I haven't read the novel. I did enjoy the film, but thought it fell short of expectations. Henry and Clare's love story didn't really have enough emotional charge for me. There could have been deeper loneliness during their separations, and deeper grief during Clare's miscarriages There could have been greater shocks or consequences stemming Henry's experience of time travel. As for the fatal accident that costs Henry his life--was it that banal in the book?

For me, the best moment of the film was at the end, when Clare (now a widow) runs out of the house to meet Henry again.

I like Rachel McAdams in everything she does. No complaints about Eric Bana or Ron Livingston either. I hope he'll movie up to more lead roles in the future.

 

[Angel4576]

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

I rated it excellent. We went to watch it a week last Friday. Took the wife to see it, who'd already the novel so she knew how it ended. Good job, judging from the majority of the rest of the audience. It was carnage. If anyone had thought to set up a stand selling Kleenex down the front of the theatre, they'd have cleaned up!

 

[Allyn Gibson]

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

As for the fatal accident that costs Henry his life--was it that banal in the book?

It's shown twice in the book; once from the perspective of Claire at age ten or so, and then the aftereffects much later.

Spoiler: At age ten...

At age ten, Claire wakes up one morning, and she feels like Henry is there, but it's not one of the dates in her notebook. She hears a gunshot, as it's hunting season, and she runs outside to the field. Henry is standing there, in his coat, and there's also her father and her brother. Her brother has shot something, and there's a bloody mess on the ground, but there's no carcass. Her brother is confused by this. The implication is that the living Henry was drawn to this moment, much like he was drawn to his mother's death. He arrived, he got the clothes that Claire left for him, and he waited for her to arrive, not realizing that this date wasn't in the book. Then, another Henry arrives, naked, and her brother, believing Henry to be a deer, shoots him dead. That Henry then returns to his own time.

Spoiler: Then, years later...

Then, years later, Henry knows his time is up. He and Claire hold a party; he doesn't want her to be alone when he comes back from the past dead, and it gives him a chance to say goodbye to all of their friends. Though I wonder how after his return they explained to the police Henry's death; he was naked, with a gunshot wound to the chest, with no weapon in the room.

What I never understood was why Claire, aged ten, roughly, never wrote that date in her notebook, so that years later, when Henry is memorizing the dates to tell the young Claire about all the times he'll return, this oddball date is included, that maybe, somehow, destiny could be avoided. That's the thing that I wanted from the book; you know early on when and how Henry dies (the scene from young Claire's perspective happens before page 100), and everyone meekly accepts that fate. I wanted someone in the book to act; I got tired of all the reacting. *shrug*

 

[Alpinemaps]

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

you know early on when and how Henry dies (the scene from young Claire's perspective happens before page 100), and everyone meekly accepts that fate. I wanted someone in the book to act; I got tired of all the reacting. *shrug*

See, that's the point of the book! The book is a tragedy, and the lessoned learned is that you should act, and not react.

Henry talked about how he couldn't change anything. Claire felt like she never had a choice in the matter - that she was destined to do what she did.

Spoiler: Spoilers about the end of the book

Remember, in the book, Henry tells Claire that she will see him one more time, when she's old. She knows she can't change that. So, shouldn't she go out and experience life, and enjoy it? Of course! But, what does she do. She waits. Like she's been doing her whole life, for that one last time that she'll see Henry.

In the end, the lesson here is that you shouldn't just accept your fate - any fate - but live life to the fullest. Do accept that your destiny is what it is because someone says so. You can do anything you want, and you can become anything you want to be.

 

[RobertScorpio]

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

Well, as I said, the movie entertained me. Bana reminds me of a younger Liam Neeson. Yeah, he has a long way to go, but I have always enjoyed Neeson in whatever I see him in..

Eric Bana, in my opinion, out did Edward Norton as the David Banner in the first Hulk movie. And its strange since I think Norton is one of the best actors going right now...

Rob

 

[Ryan]

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

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.

I agree. If there's one gripe I have about the book it's the inability of the characters to move on from loss. The book makes it definitive while the movie leaves it open.