In the 21st century, where its easy to believe that most men are sadists somehow blinded by their own warped version of reality, fairytale men are fast becoming extinct. Frog princes, knights in shining armor, and chivalrous gentleman are now only found within the musty pages of childhood novels with happy endings. And if you're like me, it all makes so much sense, until you run into a story that makes you forget to breathe again. The Time Traveler's Wife did just that. For me, this movie was a treat, an aphrodisiac that revitalizes dreams and restores faith in the fact that chivalry is not dead and every girl really does have a prince.
The movie focuses on the lifelong romance of Clare Abshire (an upper class hopeless romantic played by Rachel McAdams) and Henry DeTamble ( a time traveler played by Eric Bana). The viewer gets dropped in right at the moment when Clare and Henry meet in a Chicago library, and Clare, who's been waiting her whole life for a moment when they would both be in the same place at the same time, proceeds to remind Henry of every time he had time traveled into her life from the age of 6. And throughout the movie we follow the couple as they develop their relationship and build a life together.
I was intrigued to watch Henry, a man who had been alone all his life transcending the boundaries of space and time with no sense of stability, finally feel complete. The moment he looks into Clare's eyes and realizes that she makes him whole is so magical, I think a tear may have welled up in my own eyes. But in my opinion, the most interesting part of this movie is the fact that it is told from the first person narrative of a woman who is so in love with the man of her personal fairytale that she choses to live her life partially alone in order to have the one thing she's desired her entire life. Now that is admirable, a woman who sticks to her guns.
While the blockbuster's Hollywood ending isn't the least bit comparable to the book's, it was still a movie worth my $12.
Check out: The Time Traveler's Wife on IMDb
