The notion that romance and science fiction don't mix well, a sentiment prevalent in major Hollywood studio offices, is, to a degree, justified by the general failures of films that attempt to combine these two genres. One such failure, as far as critics were concerned, was "The Time Traveller's Wife," a 2009 film directed by Robert Schwentke, based on the best-selling 2003 novel by Audrey Niffenegger.
The protagonist, Henry DeTamble, played by Eric Bana, is a man who discovers the ability to travel in time as a young boy in the 1970s. This ability is more of a curse than a blessing, as Henry cannot control it and is unable to carry clothes or food during his travels, leading to a myriad of problems. In 1991, while working as a librarian, he meets Clare Abshire, played by Rachel McAdams, a teenager who is delighted by this encounter and explains that she has known him for much of her life. The two are destined to be together, as Henry had visited young Clare as an older man, instructing her to help guide his life. They fall in love and later marry, but Henry's happiness is tempered by the realization that his future versions apparently never aged past a certain point, meaning he would likely die prematurely. Another issue is Clare's miscarriages, which suggest that Henry's condition is genetic and may be passed on to their children, inadvertently time-travelling out of the womb.
The combination of romance and time travel allows for the concept of "soul mates" to be explained by one or both partners already knowing everything they need to know about a successful relationship. The script, written by Bruce Joel Rubin, who had also written a similar combination of romance and fantasy in Ghost, attempts to build on this concept. However, the mixing of different time periods and different versions of the same characters ultimately proves too complicated for the audience. The bigger problem is the ending, which, despite an attempt to avoid some cliches, nevertheless ends as a predictable, mushy melodrama.
On the other hand, director Robert Schwentke, who would later work on the "Divergent" film series, does a solid job, aided by cinematographer Florian Ballhaus, who insists on warm colours to create a romantic atmosphere throughout the film. The acting is solid, with both Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams successfully playing different versions of the same characters. However, they lack the chemistry McAdams had with Ryan Gosling in The Notebook, another romantic film that, unlike The Time Traveller's Wife, became a monster hit.
The Time Traveller's Wife had decent box office results, but the chorus of disapproval from critics was overwhelming, and, apparently, joined by Niffenegger herself, who refused to watch the film. In 2021, her novel was adapted again by HBO as a television series, starring Rose Leslie and Theo James, but it was cancelled after a single season.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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