The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009/Warner Blu-ray + DVD)

 

Picture: B-/C     Sound: B-/C+     Extras: C-     Film: C-

 

 

Romance and time travel usually do not mix well, especially when the film wants to be a romance (The Lake House) except on occasion (the lite Somewhere In Time) but can work if the romance is incidental, even if it loses the audience (Déjà vu), but the situation usually sabotages any romance (12 Monkeys) so The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) chose romance and has more bumps than a decade of time warps.

 

The idea is that Eric Bana’s character breaks through the time barrier, but to see and be with women-of-his-dreams Rachel McAdams, he (a librarian) has to do what he can to keep them both safe, even when he might not know what is happening at earlier times.  The scene starts in the library where she remembers something he told her about being sure not to say she knows or remembers him and does both, much to his confusion.  What could have been an interesting film based on a supposedly best-selling book tries to do the book in 117 minutes and never finds a way to set a basis for the story to work.

 

Obviously, you can believe they would or could be together, but Director Robert Schwentke (the Jodie Foster hit Flightplan, reviewed elsewhere on this site) once again proves he cannot keep a story straight.  The more challenging the narrative, the more contrived his results are.  Bruce Joel Rubin of Adrian Lyne’s mixed Jacob’s Ladder and the overrated hit Ghost cannot make his approach work here either.  The makers wanted a broad romantic commercial film and they got this bore instead.  We and the actors deserved better.

 

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is a little softer and noisier than a Super 35mm shoot should be, but the anamorphically enhanced DVD is much worse and weaker throughout and why makes no sense.  Color has been toned down and not for the better, while Director of Photography Florian Ballhaus (also from Flightplan) can compose, but cannot save the film.  The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix is on the quiet side and is dialogue-based, but does not have a good soundfield and dialogue recording is uneven, while Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD is weaker and in both cases, it is more like simple stereo in many parts.  Extras in both formats include a making of featurette, while the Blu-ray adds a second featurette, Digital Copy DVD-ROM for PC and PC portable devices.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo