Director: Ava DuVernay
Starring: Storm Reid, Deric McCabe, Levi Miller, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Zach Galifianakis, Chris Pine, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Pena and Oprah Winfrey
Rated: PG
Running Time: 1 Hr, 49 Mins
Adapting a classic book is never easy. It’s even tougher when that book has been around for over fifty years. But even if you can faithfully reproduce the characters, scenes and themes, there’s still a 50/50 chance you fall short. You also have to capture the energy and the spirit that made the book a classic to begin with.
And that’s where A Wrinkle In Time comes up short.
Video: Disney Movie Trailers
It’s been four years since Meg’s (Storm Reid) father mysteriously disappeared. A brilliant physicist working to unravel the secrets of the Universe, Dr. Murray (Chris Pine) disappeared into thin air one night. With her family now the centre of gossip and innuendo (“I think it has something to do with another woman”), Meg is ruthlessly teased and taunted by her peers at school. Complicating her life further, her interest in her school work disappeared when her father did. Despite her enormous affection for her brother Charles Wallace (Levi Miller), his efforts to help her often make her life more complicated and despite appearances, her mother (Gugu Mbantha-Raw) seems to be barely keeping it together. Life has become a moment to moment struggle.
But when some colourful and very well informed strangers wander into Meg’s life, not only does her world turn upside down, but she learns that her father is still alive and she has a chance to see him again.
A Wrinkle In Time takes some plot liberties with the original book (published by Mary L’Engle in 1962) but stylistically it does a good job reproducing a lot of the source material. But the movie falls short of duplicating the book’s heart.
Not for lack of trying. Time is vibrant and colourful and full of imagination. The costumes the three Mrs wear look like the love children between a fashion show and a rainbow. Plenty was invested in the film’s production design. But whether its the performances or the dialogue, it just seems uninspired across the board.
Reese Witherspoon captures the quirkiness of Mrs Whatsit well enough, but too often Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kalling feel like exaggerated set pieces. Charles Wallace is far less defined here than in the classic, and while he often came off as precocious in the book the best Levi Miller can manage is being really irritating. You can’t really blame the kid because pulling off that kind of performance for a six year old (or reasonable facsimile thereof) is a tall order for any child actor.
Rereading the book before the movie came out I was struck by how the its themes were still relevant 56 years later. Ideas of empowered youth, courage in the face of absolute fear and the popular contempt of knowledge (and the threat of conformity ) are still prevalent today. I was also struck by how little the book was dated. The movie tries to replicate these qualities but just can’t. A fault which may belong to the medium more than the execution.
Preteens will probably enjoy A Wrinkle in Time, especially those who haven’t read the book. It will probably provide a few precious hours of entertainment during March Break. But for fans of the original book, its likely to disappoint, despite its best efforts.
Image: Walt Disney Studios
