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The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) - Film Review

Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana star in the first screen adaptation of the bestselling novel

By Ted RyanPublished about a year ago 4 min read
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In theory, this film should have been right up my street. A time-travelling romance adapted by the Oscar-winning screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost) and starring Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls, The Notebook) and Eric Bana (Hulk, The Other Boleyn Girl) as a couple living out their love story in the wrong order. Henry DeTamble, a librarian, possesses a unique gene that lets him involuntarily travel through time. His wife, Claire Abshire, finds it difficult to cope with it.

However, after watching Steven Moffatt's HBO adaptation and reading the novel, I found this difficult to watch. In truth, it took me two attempts to watch this film all the way through - the last time this happened was when I watched 2015's Call Me By Your Name for the first time - and found the film underwhelming. This confused me because this movie had a fantastic screenwriter alongside two strong leads and Robert Schwentke attached to direct. Yet, I found myself uninvested in Clare and Henry's relationship.

Rather than writing a roasting review where I constantly compare this to the now cancelled HBO TV adaptation, I put this review aside and took a break from all things Audrey Niffenegger. When I initially began writing this, I was reading the book, had reviewed the TV series and reported on the upcoming West End musical adaptation. So, I wanted to approach this review with an unbiased perspective.

Upon reflection, I think I know where this film adaptation suffered and where I would have written it differently. In the book, the book shifts between Clare and Henry's perspectives in a non-linear structure. In many ways, the reader has to fill in certain gaps or piece a linear structure in their head as the full story is gradually revealed.

Rubin's screenplay attempts this structure, but Eric Bana's character is ultimately the primary focus. Despite this story having two protagonists, the supernatural character - similar to Sam Wheat in Ghost - was cast in the central role. Obviously, with a screenplay adaptation of a book that is over five hundred pages long, plots and arcs need to be cut down, condensed or reimagined.

However, I believe the protagonist of The Time Traveler's Wife within a film narrative should have been... the time traveller's wife. Yes, Clare should have been the main character of this film. Rachel McAdams is a superb actress and felt remarkably underused in this film. Clare offers this film a clear narrative structure in the linear sense whereas Henry can give us glimpses of backstory and foreshadow future events with his time jumps.

However, the time jumps felt more like a plot device rather than a source of real conflict. It seemed this script wanted to steer clear of real conflicts between the main couple. Any scenes that should have rightly caused tension or conflict between Henry and Clare were either brushed aside or dismissed.

I wanted the complexity that comes with relationships. For them to confront ugly truths or suppressed feelings, no matter how uncomfortable the scene got. That seemed to happen more towards the end of the film, but I wanted more of that during the middle.

Rachel McAdams was the standout of this film - her scenes during her tragic miscarriage and pregnancy storylines were so powerful in the way she played those moments. Bana seemed to be more restrained compared to his co-star, which often made many of his performances opposite McAdams came across lukewarm at best.

Schwentke and Rubin’s film didn’t explore time as much as you’d expect with a time travelling romance. Aside from a few flashbacks and flash forwards, we don’t get to see much range in the way McAdams and Bana’s characters age or change in later years. I genuinely couldn’t tell the difference between Henry in his twenties and Henry in his thirties. Bana’s physicality of Henry was only given more exploration when he was in a wheelchair during the final act of the movie.

The ensemble cast were good in their respective roles, but Tatum and Hailey McCann who both played Alba did a fantastic job.

Like many productions before and after them, this film committed the ultimate sin by changing and deviating from the novel’s original ending. Usually this happens with books that have a tragic, morbid or sad conclusion. Which of course, this one does.

Instead of the pair being reunited in heartbreaking circumstances after a lifetime separated, we get a very clean and cut and dry Hollywood romantic ending.

According to Looper’s article, Syfy reported in a now-deleted interview with screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin, he explained that "there was an ending in which you see [Clare] as an 80-year-old woman," but the test audience had a negative reaction and were confused about what was happening. Due to this response, the ending for the film version was changed. Again, this shows they missed the point of this being a tragic love story.

My rating for The Time Traveller’s Wife (2009) is ★★.

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About the Creator

Ted Ryan

When I’m not reviewing or analysing pop culture, I’m writing stories of my own.

Reviewer/Screenwriter socials: Twitter.

Author socials: You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Goodreads as T.J. Ryan.

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