Almost 130 years after the publication of H.G. Well’s novel “The Time Machine” and more than 60 years after the film adaptation of Rod Taylor as a time traveler who finds his love in a post-apocalyptic world, science fiction writers should know the first rule of this genre: It is permissible to use the jumps in time to observe his real counterpart from afar, but a direct encounter threatens a time paradox.
But that’s not the only rule nonchalantly ignored in the love story The Time Traveler’s Wife, based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger.
When Claire (Rose Leslie) first meets Henry (Theo James), she is a six-year-old girl and he is a middle-aged man. Another time, both are in their 20s. Which doesn’t stop Claire (Rose Leslie) from falling madly in love with him. For them there is no doubt that they will get married. As a spectator you are less sure.
The life of the two could be so simple if his leaps in time were only halfway as known from other films and series of this kind. But Henry not only exists twice, he also jumps through time completely uncontrolled like a rubber ball. The fact that he is naked when he arrives and therefore has to take care of clothing first does not make things any easier.
Behind the series adaptation of HBO and Warner Bros is the showrunner “Sherlock” and “Dr. Who” author Steven Moffat. Director David Nutter (“Game of Thrones”) was chosen to direct the film. This collaboration has resulted in a love story that is as turbulent as it is entertaining, which works particularly well thanks to the captivating interplay between Rose Leslie and Theo James.