The word from critics is that the new big budget film version of the classic novel A Wrinkle in Time is bad. Unfortunately, I agree. Based on the first novel in the series by Madeline L’Engle, it was a tough enough film to adapt and they kind of made all the wrong choices. It’s unfortunate because it’s one of the more well-meaning and earnest films out there. They tried, at least.
The story is about a young girl, her too-smart young brother, and a boy who happens to be a friend who are whisked magically (scientifically?) to other worlds in attempt to find her physicist father who went missing. Helping them on their journey are three beings – three Mrs. (not witches) who are more than they appear. They must ultimately face off with a nebulous source of all evil in attempt to save themselves, their father, and maybe the universe.
The film looks amazing and has a good sense of wonder in the worlds it creates. They don’t always mesh well with the actors but the film has such a sense of whimsy and wonder that maybe that’s ok. Because the visuals aren’t the real problem with the movie.
The first fifteen to twenty minutes are really good. I had hope I would come out of the movie disagreeing utterly with the critics. But, alas, the movie kind of gets jumbled and boring as it progresses. To be fair, the final ten minutes work too. Just everything in the middle is the problem.
Part of that problem is that this is a bad adaptation. I know there’s nothing more boring than, “Well, in the novel” when talking about a film adaptation. But it has to be said since the decisions made in the adaptation make the movie worse.
In the book, there are explanations for various things and themes that happen that the movie doesn’t bother explaining. Yet they are still half in the movie, thus leaving anyone who hadn’t read the books baffled. If you know the book, you’ll understand why things happen but a newcomer will just come away thinking random stuff happens randomly for no discernible reason. For example, they cut the explanation of how folding space works (though we saw the scene in the trailers so it was filmed). More importantly, the scene of kids on a street bouncing a ball in unison is in the movie… but they never follow-up with it or explain why it’s happening. Without ANY of the ideas of a planet of conformity with a Central Central Intelligence agency, the point of having the scene is lost.
It kind of feels like half the script is missing or maybe these scenes were shot and someone in the editing room realized the film wasn’t working so they cut it down to get as short a movie as they could. There’s a dose of science and scientific explanations that the book focuses on that the movie only makes a half-hearted attempt at including and sometimes drops completely. Thus making the movie feel like any other fantasy novel adaption made. They betrayed the novel’s focus on science, math, and thought-provoking ideas.
The three Mrs. (Whatsit, Who, and Which) as played by Oprah, Witherspoon, and Kaeling are problems that were unintentional, I suspect. Oprah spends the first third of the movie 30 feet tall… and that was either ego-stroking on her behalf or, more likely, on behalf of the film makers who adore her a little too much. Since she was filming this on a blue screen, it’s doubtful its her ego. But, given the adulation she gets in the real world, it was an unwelcome distraction while watching the film. Witherspoon is fine. Mindy Kaeling gets to quote random philosophers and movie stars for her dialog which is wise since, when she speaks her own dramatic lines, she’s not good. And I love Mindy Kaeling… but apparently only in comedic roles (or just maybe not this particular role)
Young Storm Reid as the main character Meg is pretty good. She plays a bag of insecurities and anger well. When called to play emotional scenes, she pulls it off in some very well done acting with Chris Pine. Unfortunately, the young actor playing her brother is saddled with a super-precocious, wise-beyond-his-years, genius child part and that was probably too much for him. Sometimes he’s ok, sometimes he’s grating. I don’t blame him so much as the casting… but maybe the role is too much for any young kid. Zach Galifianakis shows up as a prophet and his tone is all wrong for the film. He basically plays his usual Zach Galifianakis role and the sense of humor just doesn’t mesh with most of the rest of the film.
To be honest, I read A Wrinkle in Time back when I was twelve. I didn’t particularly love or hate them then. I re-read it a few months ago and I’m still largely indifferent to it. That’s something the movie could have fixed but, instead, it made its own big boiling pot of mistakes. I’d like to think young kids would like the film… I had distinct vibes of adventure movies I saw and loved as a kid like The Neverending Story. I was debating if I’m just an old, mean-spirited jerk who didn’t like a kids film or if the movie really was lacking the heart to go along with its visuals. The movie clearly wanted to have soaring scenes of thrilling magical wonder… but all they nailed down was a look.
So, yeah, maybe this is a film kids might like but I have strong doubts. I can’t recommend it unless you are a lover of the book… but I think then you’d be annoyed at the changes and half-hearted, half-completed scenes and themes they did keep. It’s unevenly acted, some of its sense of humor is too hipper-than-thou, and it’s overall feel is just not quite there. It’s unfortunate too since they spent so much money and they clearly were trying their hardest to make a great film. I can’t argue the effort and even the heart wasn’t there… the results are just a mess.
Score: 68