Review of The Time Traveler's Wife (2009) by Dawdlingpoet — 25 Nov 2021

This is definitely a movie which you need access to tissues to watch, so ladies - you've been warned! although the slip it arrived in from Lovefilm classifies it as a fantasy/sci-fi movie, I'd say its alot more fantasy/romance based than sci-fi, personally. I think its more a movie that women will enjoy, although thats not to say that men wouldn't enjoy it, I just think its more of a chick flick sort of a movie really.

I can be quite critical about movies and the first thing that came to mind while watching it from fairly early on in the movie (ie plot wise) is the believability of the story. Of course people wouldn't believe that the main character can travel through time and its not a movie based on actual scientific fact, thats not what I'm referring to in this case, instead I'm thinking more about the fact that, for example, every time he 'travels' and suddenly appears elsewhere in the nude (as you do), he's able to quickly and fairly easily get his hands on someone elses clothes - is that really likely? there's that and the other sticking point that came to mind was the fact that when two characters are faced with the fact that he's not a bit of a loony and he does actually travel through time, when they see him disappear before their eyes, while it obviously takes them by surprise, there's no real talk of telling the media, of rushing him to medics or of claiming him as their discovery or anything like what you'd imagine may happen if this happened for real. In a sense its as if their like wow, ok so you *can* travel through time, thats a bit weird but ok then... and then they accept it and move on. Of course the story would likely be affected in a big way if the story changed but all the same, you are left thinking that there is this extra element of it thats less credible...I'm probably being a bit mean since its not really the point of the movie to be uber credible and everything but all the same, it came to mind so I'm mentioning it. People who are keen on time travelling movies and pay close attention to that side of it may also question the validity of Henry using his knowledge of the future to change him and his wives' future after its said earlier in the movie that no matter what, his special power doesn't allow him to change his future.

I felt that the movie was a bit confusing for viewers in terms of keeping track of 'which' Henry was in each scene, as he 'travelled' a lot and it can get a little confusing, from what point in time does he come from and what does he know when he's conversing with his wife etc. it can be alot to get your head around at first and it given my review so far, it sounds like there are a fair few criticisms for this movie but in its defence, I would say that its quite watchable, I like the concept/plot and trying to figure out what the outcome would be, indeed keeping up with the changes with Henry and 'which' Henry was appearing from scene to scene may be part of the appeal as well as a slight disadvantage, depending on how you see it. There are some fairly intense scenes where you'll likely need tissues as its quite emotional and I felt quite attached to the characters, thanks to decent performances from Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams.

I think that overall, there are definitely flaws and questions im left with having seen it but as mainly a romantic drama or fantasy movie, I can't criticise it too badly because I did enjoy the characters and felt quite attached to them and their story and I was intrigued to see what would happen, so in that sense I certainly enjoyed the movie and I can't say that its not entertaining, it is fairly dramatic and there's definitely a fantastical element to it, which the musical score/soundtrack helps to convey, so in that way its a good movie, just not without some technical flaws perhaps.

As a romantic drama with fantasy and sci-fi elements to it, yes I would recommend it but for real time travel buffs then perhaps not. Overall I'd say that its worth seeing once and you know judge for yourself but I watched it through to the end and although I was left feeling a little unsure perhaps, I would say that I still enjoyed it and I thought it was quite good as a romantic drama, so its worth checking out.