Review of Somewhere in Time (1980) by Thomas D — 15 Aug 2013

It's high time for an honest review of "Somewhere in Time"; To begin, it's the quintessential example of "you either get it or you don't"..I'm referring to it's cult status.

not the plot. Few men should ever review this film, it's too sappy and slow-paced for our limited attention span, or our ability to separate a gentle G-rated love story from a great film. Few men would admit to liking it, even the ones that did.

The fact that there are women who aren't professional critics that didn't like this movie is heartbreaking to me. One review said "as if two people can fall in love after just one kiss?" It's taken me less.

. Is "Somewhere in Time" a great film from a critical standpoint? No, it's not, their relationship was developed too quickly, a few scenes were hokey and poorly written and the end was cheaply thrown together using the lamest film-student level FX you'll see in such a poignant romance-meets-time travel.

The obvious assets were an absolutely haunting score by John Barry, this was my introduction to Rachmaninov's Concerto #2 Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, the costume design was astounding, Jane Seymour had the grace and beauty of La Hepburn (great, now I have to watch "Sabrina", 1954).

She does an "impromptu" speech about not recognizing love she'd never known that will make your heart skip a beat if you watch this 50 times (I know, I have). Christopher Reeves was never better, and he was far more gifted than he would ever be given credit for, his Adonis-looks and Superman roles would see to that.

I met him in a bar with my agent in '84 as I recall, it was like looking at a live Statue of David. In summation, yes, it's a technically flawed film, but I look past that effortlessly when watching "Somewhere in Time" because I see it for what it is, a wonderful love story that reminds us it's not hard to believe in love if you forget the reasons you don't, even if just for a little while.

The critics gave it a 59% here, the same score they gave "Hatchett 3" and that should tell you all you need to know about critics grading simple love stories, audiences gave it an 86%. If 14 people in a hundred don't believe in a love that transcends all time and space, I have hope for humanity that I haven't felt in some time since I decided to review without shame, one of my top ten all-time romance films, "Somewhere in Time".