Time and Again

How do I rate a film that I don't even believe exists? "Time and Again", the beloved novel from the 1970's by Jack Finney, was never made into a movie, despite a number of ill-fated attempts over the years. The latest I saw was to be directed by Doug Liman after he finished the Tom Cruise/Emily Blunt sci-fi film; before that, it was Robert Redford. There was even talk at one time of Spielberg being involved. At one point, there was even thought of it being a Broadway show.

"Time and Again" is one of my favorite books that I have read a number of times. I would love to see a movie of it; I just wish that it actually existed at this "time".

It is a nervous and exciting thing to see a film on the screen in a space so familiar to your life as your own house. I grew up in "the crazy aunt's" house in this movie. It was surprising to see how the floor plan of the house as it was in the movie changed from the way it actually is in real life. People would run through doorways and come into "the next room" only to be somewhere completely different, or they would come running down a stair case from a room that wouldn't make sense with where they had supposedly come from. Ahhh the magic of film huh?

As for the movie itself, I give it a high 6 to a 7 out of 10. It was better than I expected overall, however its always hard to get good acting out of a child and some of the lines seemed a little rough/weak either in their delivery or just in the dialogue. Its one that definitely does make you think. The plot is good but the character development would need a lot of work to turn this one into a theatre production. Besides, its only 1.5 hours--clearly made for TV.

I prefer movies that make me think. I had to think a lot with this movie when I saw it last night. I kept telling my roomie...this is a hard movie to understand. This is a very interesting take of time travel itself. That is ultimately what got me to sit through this movie.

I recommend this movie if you want something other than fluff. It is interesting and it is deep. However, you should realize this is not a movie that was made for the theaters. Unfortunately, you have to ignore the Forrest Gump wannabe or simply take him with a grain of salt. I didn't care for many of the supporting characters and would have preferred other people but it wasn't my choice. I will say a lot of the characters you have to grin and bear.

Overall, the acting was good. It could have been better.

Everything does come together at the end in a very nice "Aha!" moment. Do your best to sit through the end and you will get it all.