Movie Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

Oh Henry DeTamble, how I love you. This post contains spoilers.

So, recently, I read The Time Traveler's Wife and hoooo boy was I NOT disappointed. Audrey Niffenegger really knows how to get to the feels. Here's my book review: http://bookaholic-ness.blogspot.com/2013/12/book-review-time-travelers-wife-by.html

But the movie.. I was disappointed. A little. I got 40 minutes into it and was uber disappointed. BUT THEN, the second part of the movie made up for it. 

There were a lot of things I disliked, but there were also parts I liked.

I disliked:

1. Kimy is missing. You cannot just take Kimy out. What the heck. She's a really important role in the life of Henry's dad-- she's his caretaker! Come on, you can't just take her out. 

2. Appearance isn't that big of a deal, but Henry.. Gomez... I don't know. GOMEZ IS SUPPOSED TO BE BLOND?? It's not a big deal, but once you watch a book-to-movie adaptation you can't get the actors' faces out of your head. Henry and Gomez just weren't how I pictured them. I mean, Eric Bana did good, and he could pass as a Henry, but something was missing. He wasn't portraying Henry's character. 

3. The romance on Henry's side was no good. In the book, they at least had a little development before they had sex and got married, but come on! In the movie, they just met, and had sex. And got married? Like, that's really rushy. I know that Clare knows Henry really well when she meets him at 28 years old, but Henry doesn't even know Clare. After they marry, he travels back in time to meet her. HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HER WHEN HE HAS SEX WITH HER. Like, what are you doing.. I can't really blame the movie makers, though.. it was hard to show.

4. Rachel McAdams did not portray Clare well either. And little Clare wasn't acted all that well. She sounded too much like she was just reciting.

5. I can't help but think about the people that have not read this book. They won't get it.

6. When Henry asked Clare, "Do you wish I was him?" that bothered me. Mainly because in the book, they weren't supposed to be jealous of their past/present selves when Henry time traveled. Seriously though. 

7. They didn't list what kept him down on earth, stuck to the present. Sex, running, among other things. Yeah, they did show a clip of him running on the beach, but to people that didn't read the book, that really means nothing. They took out the coat pocket scene, where Clare sticks her hand into his pants and squeezes his cock. That's got to be the best part. But no, they didn't include it. But I like how they included how TV sets him off, too.

8. Alba is supposed to be dark haired, sheesh.. Little things like this bother me too much.

9. Gomez and Henry's relationship was not even represented in the movie. Like you can't just go from strangers that are wary of each other to good old pals. You need the development.

10. At the end, isn't there supposed to be some sort of epilogue? Clare was supposed to see Henry when she was old. That just added a whole bunch of emotion into it! But there was no sign of that part in the movie.

11. Clare was angry about how Henry constantly disappeared. Sure, it was a problem in the book, but it didn't get them to fight. Clare never told Henry how hard it was to live like that. When she married him, she accepted that he would do that, but in the movie she just complained. Like, seriously? In the book, she said, "I wait for Henry." It is easily agreed that that line is one of the most important. I think that's a significant sign of her patience. 

I don't know, maybe they were trying to rush the movie to fit it into a 100 minute time frame, but really? Too many parts were skipped and I can't help but feel disappointed, no matter how good the book was. I feel like the books that are the best really cannot have a completely amazing movie adaptation.

However, despite everything, there are still some things I liked.

1. They tried to keep the story together, despite all the differences and skipped parts. Henry died the way he was supposed to die. 

2. Best line? "He has great hair!" on their wedding, when present Henry time traveled and old Henry took his place for a while. Had me rollin'.

3. Rachel McAdams was casted perfectly, despite the holes in her acting.. Exactly how I imagined Clare.

4. It ended decently, even though it wasn't how it ended in the book-- it shows the strong mother-daughter connection that they had and really brought out some feels.

That is all. Give this movie a try! (AFTER YOU READ THE BOOK.)