Monniblog

I read The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger almost two years ago and absolutely loved it. It’s probably one of my favourite books; fiction, a bit of fantasy, and some romance, what’s not to love? When I read the book, I thought it would make a fantastic movie, and I am glad to say I was not disappointed. CW and I went to see the movie this weekend and we all really enjoyed it.

Starring Eric Bana as Henry and Rachel McAdams as Clare, these two actors make quite a team in The Time Traveller’s Wife. Before we went to the movie, I lent CW the book so he could read it. It isn’t really his genre, but he thought it was good (although a bit jumpy). When we discussed the timeline, we thought that they would follow Clare’s timeline chronologically and show Henry jumping through it. In fact, they focused more on Henry’s timeline and how Clare fit into his life, yet didn’t make it overwhelming and confusing.

The only thing that got confusing was Eric Bana’s different ages. Since he may only travel a few months or years into the past or future, it was often difficult to gauge his age. The makeup artists certainly did well with little hints, such as the grey hair and the constant 5 o’clock shadow. Like on their wedding day, Henry got stressed out which caused him to time travel, but an older Henry from the future had time travelled back to their wedding day and was able to take his own place at the church ceremony, wisps of grey hair and all.

The movie certainly focuses more on the romance and the relationship between Henry and Clare. In the book there is more with Dr. Kendrick, the geneticist who is researching Henry’s condition. With the book they spend a lot of time exploring about how if Henry hadn’t been able to time travel, they would have never met. There are some amazing little quirks when Henry has said/done things in the past that affect the future… but yet they don’t. One little throwback comment in the movie to this is when Henry meets Dr. Kendrick and tells him what he will call the condition Henry has. Then Henry says, “but now that I’ve told you what you call it, you will call it that and we’ll never know which came first.”

I can’t remember how much I cried during the book (I believe I finished it on the plane to England), but I was bawling my eyes out during the movie. Like the book, the ending is bittersweet.