Henry DeTamble, a librarian, possesses a unique gene that lets him involuntarily travel through time. His wife, Claire Abshire, finds it difficult to cope with it.Henry DeTamble, a librarian, possesses a unique gene that lets him involuntarily travel through time. His wife, Claire Abshire, finds it difficult to cope with it.Henry DeTamble, a librarian, possesses a unique gene that lets him involuntarily travel through time. His wife, Claire Abshire, finds it difficult to cope with it.
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- 1 win & 5 nominations total
- Charisse
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Featured reviews
Henry (Eric Bana) works as a special collections librarian. He has an anomaly he was born with which allows him to travel in time. He never knows when or where he's going.
When Clare Abshire meets him, she invites him to dinner -- she has been in love with him since she was six years old. He finds out that he visited her often when she was a child. They fall in love and marry.
It turns out that being married to a time traveler isn't all it's cracked up to be. Henry always leaves unexpectedly and sometimes is gone for a while, and it can happen at any time.
Good movie, with wonderful performances by both leads, who have good chemistry. Rachel McAdams to me is scarily like Jennifer Garner. She's lovely and sympathetic as Clare, and Bana, a fine actor, is very effective as Henry, whose visits to the future don't always make him comfortable.
Depending on your mood, this bittersweet story can be a real tear- jerker. It got to me and I cried, I admit it.
I think the tale says that we have to deal with what we're given, even if it's not always convenient. We are not always the masters of our abilities.
I was overjoyed by how true to the book the film stayed, only varying in a few unimportant places, the film dared to be as heart breaking and sad as the book and did not feel the need to justify the logistics of the time travel instead choosing to summarise it in the first scene.(People who feel this was not explained do not have the imagination needed to fully enjoy this film).
The ageing of Eric Bana's character was seamless and it was easy to tell whether he was a younger or older version of Henry and Rachel McAdams brought out the inner frustrations of Claire's character with a great sensitivity showing the difficulties of the relationship.
Overall, this film was not a let down to a lover of the book, I enjoyed it as an extension of the story of Henry and Claire and found the emotions real and well developed. A definite must-see for all fans and those who haven't read the book but who just enjoy a good love story!
Hollywood and director Robert Schwentke deserve a big kudos for not messing this one up, and for creating a big screen experience that welcomes those who loved the novel as well as newcomers to this tragic-romantic story.
I gave it 9 out of 10.
At the heart of this film is a love story and the complexities that people bring to their relationships. What I liked most was its metaphorical allusion to the distance in relationships and how the important people in our lives stay with us even after they are gone. The scenes between Henry and young Clare were especially moving because they took literally the notion of feeling like you have known someone your whole life. It's kind of like when you share stories from your past with friends and significant others, retelling them time and again until your experiences are indistinguishable from theirs, except in the case of Henry and Clare, the experiences are real if not linear.
Just go and watch it. Decide for yourself if you like it. Just don't dwell too much on the technicalities. After all, Scientific Theorists have been slamming their heads against the wall on the matter of time travel for centuries. Take the story for what it is and enjoy the ride.
The basic plot is Eric Bana (Henry) is afflicted with being involuntarily sent through time. He has no control about the time or places where he is sent. At some point, he meets with Rachel McAdams (Clare), drops in and out of her life, they fall in love and marry. However, as one can easily imagine, the downsides of involuntary time travel takes its toll. The movie could have easily have spun out of control and ended up a total mess, but the movie actually works quite nicely.
The plot could be a collaborative effort of the late Rod Serling (of Twilight Zone fame) with bizarre, science fiction type plots and Nicholas Sparks, the author of countless sticky sweet love stories (i.e. – "The Notebook").
I liked this movie, but I realize this might not be everybody's cup of tea. I would say stick with it & you'll be glad you didn't give up & go see "Halloween II" across the hall (as I was tempted to do). I've seen them both. Believe me when I say "Time Traveler" is the better of the two.
Did you know
- TriviaAfter filming was done, Eric Bana started filming Star Trek (2009), which required him to shave his head. However, re-shoots for this movie were needed, so production was put on hold so Bana's hair could grow out. It took so long that the movie's release date was pushed back by nearly a year.
- GoofsThe Calendar page for February 1984 pasted in Clare's diary has 30 days.
- Quotes
Clare at Eight: Are you married?
Henry DeTamble: Yes, I am.
Clare at Eight: Is your wife a time traveler?
Henry DeTamble: No. No, thank God.
Clare at Eight: Do you love her?
Henry DeTamble: Yes. Very much. What's wrong?
Clare at Eight: Nothing. I was just hoping you're married to me.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Taking of Pelham 123/Imagine That/Moon (2009)
- SoundtracksLove Will Tear Us Apart
Written by Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, and Bernard Sumner
Performed by Broken Social Scene
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Te amaré por siempre
- Filming locations
- Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada(Library in Chicago)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $39,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $63,414,846
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $18,623,171
- Aug 16, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $101,344,412
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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