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While the story for “The Time Traveler’s Wife” is not
at all interested in plausibility or logic, it is interested
in making an emotional connection with the audience, and
so it does. Make no mistake – this adaptation of Audrey
Niffenegger’s novel is about as preposterous as it gets,
telling the story of a man who can go back and forth through
time but lacks the ability to control when he goes and for
how long he’ll be gone. ***
There’s no adequate explanation for his condition,
and maybe it’s for the best; this a love story, after all,
not a supernatural commentary on evolution or expanded consciousness.
Besides, if you were to stop for a moment and really think
about the idea, the inevitable questions will eventually
be so numerous that you’ll end up with a headache. For this
particular story, you’ll be much better off just blindly
buying into the premise. ***
Only then will it be possible to appreciate the more
engaging aspects of the story, the most obvious being the
romance between the time traveler, Henry DeTamble (Eric
Bana), and his wife, Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams). Actually,
it would be more accurate to say that sometimes she’s his
wife – it all depends at what point in time the movie shifts
to, and there are many of them. ***
They meet back when she was only six years old and playing
alone on her family’s vast meadow. From out of nowhere comes
a man from the future without any clothes on, and after
she gives him his blanket, he tells her that he will officially
meet her years later, at which point she will be a college
student in a library looking for an art book. You see, during
that first encounter, he was older, nearly forty; in the
library, he will be younger, say twenty-five or so. ***
Anyway, as time goes on for Clare, Henry will repeatedly
come into and shift out of her life, and they will fall
deeply in love and get married. Imagine what this must be
like for Clare, never knowing when her husband will appear
and disappear out of thin air like a ghost. One second,
he’s there carrying dishes to the table for dinner, and
the next second he’s gone, leaving Clare behind to sweep
up broken pieces of ceramic. A marriage like this really
gives new meaning to the vow, “To have and to hold for all
time.” ***
One of the unfortunate side effects of his time travelling
is that none of his clothes travel with him, so wherever
he goes (whenever, rather), he’s forced to steal some by
breaking into a store or someone else’s home. And at what
age will he be when he gets back? One of the film’s more
clever segments incorporates a fair amount of humor and
takes place on their wedding day; a younger version of Henry
is getting ready for the ceremony, only to disappear in
the bathroom. ***
Fortunately, an older version of Henry arrives just
in time, albeit with graying hair. This man disappears after
the ceremony, right as Clare’s father (Philip Craig) invites
them to the dance floor. Fortunately, that’s when the younger
Henry returns, and even though he was technically there,
he apologizes for missing the wedding. ***
I told you this time travel gimmick was better left
unquestioned. Attached to it, however, are emotional issues
that are genuinely touching, and this definitely includes
Henry and Clare’s attempts to have a baby. I will refrain
from going into detail here, but here are some questions
to think about. Is it reasonable to assume that Henry’s
condition can be passed along to his child? If so, then
is it fair for that child to even be born? ***
There comes a point when he seeks the help of David
Kendrick (Steven Tobolowsky), a geneticist, and while the
results of his various tests do little to shed light on
why Henry is the way he is, he does play a pivotal role
in helping him and Clare conceive. Henry, by the way, tells
Dr. Kendrick that his condition is known as chronoimpairment,
a term Kendrick has not yet coined. ***
One other emotional issue that serves the story well
is the broken relationship between Henry and his father,
Richard (Arliss Howard), who hasn’t been himself since his
wife’s untimely death. Henry was only six at the time, but
as a time traveler, he continuously goes back to the days
before her death and holds brief conversations with her
as a stranger. This naturally begs the question of why he
can’t simply prevent her from dying. This itself begs the
question of why, “I’ve tried, but there’s nothing I can
do,” is the best explanation he has. ***
Deep human drama runs through this movie, and that’s
what I found the most compelling. Henry’s ability to time
travel, however, is conveniently left unexplained. We’re
only meant to pay attention to the relationship between
Henry and Clare, and indeed, we do. The concept is inherently
absurd, but the chemistry between the main characters is
not; we able to see them up on screen and actually believe
that they’re in love. ***
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