Film Review : The Time Traveler's Wife

I caught the trailer for this film a few weeks ago and was somewhat taken with the concept of a couple conducting while one of them involuntarily indulges in a little time travel. It certainly brings a whole new meaning to the idea of playing away from home!

They say that you can usually tell what a film will be like when you see the audience. Apart from a handful of older couples, the cinema seemed to be filled entirely with young girls! Being there on my own after work, it certainly made me feel a little like a fish out of water (for want of any other description that may be considered more appropriate!).

I quickly got the impression that what was coming was going to fall into the territory of chick-flick and so it proved. What I had also discovered since seeing the trailer was that the film was based on a highly regarded book with some question marks over its' ability to transfer credibly to the screen.

So how was it. A gentle romance which unfolds over its' 107 minute duration revealing the background to the romance and the circular nature of the story, it was perhaps a little bland despite good performances from the versatile Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams who is beginning to prove that she has something more to offer than her extremely good looks. There are a number of interesting areas where the paradoxes of time travel impact on the lives of others that certainly had me thinking them through as I made my way home after the film had finished.

The film was enjoyable enough but given the high reputation of the book I suspect it won't satisfy the expectations of its' fans. It has, however, made me interested in checking out the book which I suspect will be a better format for developing the themes evident from the film.