The Time Travler's Wife

The Time Traveler’s Wife

Starring: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, brief disturbing images, nudity and sexuality

Well this movie is a cute little romance (not a comedy...at all) with a sci-fi element to twist your mind and try to hook the guys. And while you do get hooked the problem is you are also so confused by plot holes and time paradoxes that you really just want the movie to finish and resolve it’s self so you can actually understand everything that is going on. But then it ends and you are still scratching your head and you feel like you just lost in a game of chance to a street magician and you knew you were going to lose but you still can’t quite figure out how you lost.

Eric Bana plays the time traveler. He is a research librarian who since the age of 6 or so has the power to travel in time. The problem is he can only travel with in his life time to important events, there is one exception, which I want go into because it is extremely important…kind of, but it is like the one plot twist so I can’t give it away. The other flaw in this time traveling deal is that it is as involuntary as sneezing. Bana is about to start shaving and boom and he can’t take anything with him, including clothes. So he winds up naked at every destination, then he breaks in to people’s stores or jacks people’s wallets so he can have some clothes until seconds later poof he evaporates into time and you kind of wonder what the heck was the point of all that.



On top of the bizarre premise to the film there is also the problem of some of the driest acting on record. Bana and McAdams are usually pretty fun to watch. I thought Bana was hilarious in Funny People dropping his Australian accent, and McAdams is pretty cute. But this film was pretty limited in the on screen chemistry department. Bana is stern and gruff the whole time and is tolerable at best. Couple Bana’s chip on the shoulder attitude that with the brooding McAdams and the film drags on like a dubbed Korean soap opera.



This might be one of those movies that girls think is amazing and romantic and heartwarming, but in reality it is a confusing mish mash of romance, strained relationships, and a twisted sci-fi premise. It is a movie that creates barley enough emotional connection to the characters to force you to watch in puzzled apathy while really nothing interesting happens. There are a lot more movie out there worth watching. This movie was like choking down a bony Velociraptor and getting his razor sharp toe claw stuck in your throat. The Time Travelers Wife is a 5 out of 10, not the worst movie ever made, but a lot worse than most.



Sex/Nudity – 6 out of 10 - A guy time travels naked a lot, we see silhouettes of his naked body and see his bare chest a few times. There is some sex and kissing. We see a woman’s bare buttock as she gets out of bed after sex. She pulls on an over sized shirt to cover her top half but her butt is still visible.

Violence/Gore – there is one fist fight and some tense chasing scenes. A man breaks and enters a few buildings and a car. One man is shot and we see him bleeding in the stomach area.

Profanity – 12 or so uses of the “S” word and “A” word. There are a few other swear words and religious exclamations throughout.