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The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
2009 | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
It’s hard to do something different with romance these days. Girl meets boy or vice versa. Boy falls in love with girl or vice versa. So every now and then it needs to do something a little different in order to give it a unique twist.

Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore had Ghost, Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, The Lake House so The Time Traveller’s Wife had to go one step further. Special collections librarian Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana) has a genetic anomaly that allows him to time travel; however, he is not able to control the moment or the destiny of his voyages.

The film is based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger and not having read the book it’s hard to say whether or not the film did it justice? That said, it’s elegantly shot and Bana and fellow on screen love interest Clare (Rachel McAdams) seem perfectly suited to their roles.

Bana is a likeable actor and has been portrayed in some pretty powerful films including Chopper, Black Hawk Down and Munich

A man who only has the love for one woman but is unable to control his ability in disappearing, he is desperate to find a cure and won’t let anything stand in his way. The time travelling plot is a little stupid. Henry is unable to control when he goes but always seems to pop up in similar places both in the past and the future, and always naked?

In the beginning he visits his wife Clare on more than one occasion as a child and as she grows older. Certainly it’s a better directed film than the Butterfly Effect in which Ashton Kutcher time travelled more often than a gas meter reader pops into your house.

The Time Traveller’s Wife is a film with nagging questions and at times head scratching conclusions but this is a love story of beauty, and for that it’s worth a watch.
  
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
2004 | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
10
7.7 (20 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Deeper than it first appears...
Contains spoilers, click to show
Having always being a fan of Time Travel and Science Fiction, I was always keen on seeing this film upon its initial release, seven years ago, now. But for one reason or another, this just didn't happen, leaving me to watch this on TV a couple of years later.

I was left disappointed. This was mainly because the film was very gritty, at times dower and not what I or many would have expected from a film in this genre. But with repeat viewings and finally watching this version, the Director's Cut, with a more downbeat and tragic conclusion, I realised that I was wrong.

Yes, this film does not tick the correct boxes for a film of this time, but that is because it is not playing it safe. It is doing what any great groundbreaking films should do and that is to find the truth of the story and tell it, show it and help the audience engage and feel it, in an uncompromising way.

*** SPOILERS *** The film deals with troubled childhoods of four kids, two of whom grow up to become Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart. (Not literally, of course!) Kutcher's lead, has the ability to travel back to his own past for brief moments by reading his childhood journals or in some cases, watching home movies or looking at photos.

His intention upon discovering this gift, is to repair some of the damage that these events have cause to the group, who have sustained several traumas and left them in various states of dis-functionality as adults. But, as the metaphor relating to Chaos Theory states, "Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?" Philip Merilees: We witness several distinct changes in then present as a result of his tampering and this often results in more pain, in one way or another.

This is a gripping film, with a true sense of itself, philosophy and needs of the narrative to justify its own dower conclusions, and ultimately, Kutcher's final decisions.

The sound design, cinematography general direction are outstanding here, with power use of all the key elements to give us a naturalistic feel, not dis-similar from something that Steven Spielberg might produce.

The Theatrical Cut was good, but this version is superior, with a new and more appropriate ending more in keeping the with the general tone of the film, this should be a true Sci-Fi classic, in the same league as the likes of "Planet Of The Apes", "The Day The Earth Caught Fire" and in to a lesser extent, this being a more widely accepted addition, "Donnie Darko".

Highly recommended.
  
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Kate (355 KP) Mar 8, 2019

The book is so much better as in most cases when they are turned into a film.