?THE TIME-TRAVELER?S WIFE? tells an initially fascinating story about a man who simple can?t stay put ? not just in one place, but also in one extended period of time. It isn?t made clear how he became this medical oddity, it merely takes the rare condition as a given and proceeds to show how the time traveler (Eric Bana) makes the best out of his baffling and even discombobulating predicament.
Things get decidedly more dodgy when he finds his future life partner and wife in a girl whom he meets when she?s still a child and he?s already a grown man. He doesn?t force her to fall in love with him and thus put up with his willy-nilly existence, but it still seems unfair to the girl that she has to bear with the many invidious and onerous repercussions of their time-tormented love.
Those negative consequences assert themselves soon enough: He almost doesn?t make it in time for their wedding, she spends many lonely Christmas Eves by herself, and even the delivery of their first-child almost becomes a one-woman show.
Why does she put up with all of these difficulties? Because she loves him. So, the film emerges as a testament to the durability of love, which can, in a sense, survive ?forever.?
Seen more realistically, however, the time-traveler?s wife is often left holding the short end of their psychic stick, and that really is too much of an imposition on her.
To make things worse, although actor Bana is regarded as a certified screen hunk, some women may not think that he?s worth a lifetime of endless waiting. To male moviegoers, this view is made more acute due to the fact that lead actress, Rachel McAdams, comes across as even more enthralling than her leading man.
The film gets into even more trouble by taking its time-travel conceit one step further and showing what happens to the couple?s young daughter, who acquires her father?s unique gene, but is able to rise above its more onerous and restrictive features.
Exactly how she is able to do this isn?t made clear, so the viewer is expected to simply accept this additional bit of pseudo-science.
Well, OK, but the viewer can?t be blamed for feeling that he?s being made to bear too much of the burden in this regard, especially because the film?s director, Robert Schwentke, and writers have the duty, not just to fancifully create their own universe for the film, but also to fill in the blanks and make it fully believable and plausible.
From Borat to ?Bruno?
When British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen played the zany title character ?Borat,? he became an overnight sensation. Now, in his new film ?Bruno,? he has come up with another wild character ? a gay fashion maven who wants to be the biggest Austrian celebrity since Adolf Hitler!
The movie also features cameos by Bono, Chris Martin, Elton John, Paula Abdul, Snoop Dogg, Sting, etc.
Tanghalang Ateneo
Starting September 16, Tanghalang Ateneo stages Mary Zimmerman?s ?Metamorphosis,? a modern adaptation of Ovid?s classical mythologies.
The young and talented artistic staff is headed by director Jay Crisostomo, Dan Chua assisting, with set design by Monica Sebial and costume design by Samantha Quizon. E-mail: marketing@tanghalangateneo.org.
?The Ugly Truth?
Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler heat up the screen in ?The Ugly Truth,? a smart, sexy comedy about men, women and the giant abyss that separates them as they think of, fantasize about and try to seduce each other.
