Review: ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ Is Unwatchable
Review
Fans of Audrey Niffenegger’s beloved novel The Time Traveler’s Wife, who were most likely stoked when they heard a new adaptation was coming to their television screens, will abhor HBO’s new drama series of the same name. People not familiar with the book…will probably also hate it. A romance for the ages, Henry DeTamble is a dashing librarian plagued by a genetic disorder that makes him involuntarily time travel, often into dangerous situations, and also back to his wife Clare Abshire’s own childhood. From Steven Moffat, most well known for his run of Doctor Who and as the creator of Sherlock, the show makes one baffling decision after another, leaving it entirely unwatchable.
From the jump, Theo James (Sanditon) and Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones) are odd choices for Henry and Clare. They both inject their characters with a rough, aggressive quality, subverting what should feel like a sweet love story. This is in contrast to the ill-received 2009 film, which, however you feel about it, nailed the casting with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, who fully embody the characters’ demure and bookish personas. Whereas James and Leslie spend most of their screen-time screaming at each other.
Macall Polay/HBO
The couple who love poetry, opera, punk music, and can talk for hours while playing chess are gone. In their place are two people who have nothing in common, and have no reason to be together other than fate (aka time travel) pushing them together. Their very first date ends in Henry calling Clare crazy and she, in turn, throwing her shoe at him, and needing to be convinced by a visiting, older version of Henry to give each other another shot. As the season progresses, and they get more serious, the bickering never lets up. Clare constantly laments that this younger version of Henry is not as good as the older version she’s grown up with. But even in the scenes of him with a teenage Clare, played unconvincingly by the 35-year-old Leslie, they are persistently at odds. There’s hardly ever a moment where they’re just getting along. Is this the couple we’re supposed to root for?
It’s not only Clare that Henry yells at — it’s everyone. He’s shockingly mean to his childhood self, as he teaches a young Henry about time travel and how to survive it, with lessons like pickpocketing, since whenever he travels he leaves his clothing and all other possessions behind. Any opportunity at tenderness is passed up in favor of melodramatic conflict, made all the worse by James’ and Leslie’s overacting.
While Moffat is a self-professed huge fan of the book, the show uses the source material more as inspiration, which would be fine if the new version made any sort of sense. The series has the unusual framing device of Henry and Clare making videos where they talk about their lives for no explicable reason. The six-episode season (I’ve seen all six) hits most of the major story-beats of the book, but twists each of them until their meaning is entirely different, and all nuance has been stripped out. A sensitively done sexual assault arc in the book is sensationalized to the point of bordering on offensive. Even the simple act of getting Clare flowers is made into something harsh and violent. A dinner party that could subtly highlight the peculiar dynamics at play with Clare’s friends, Charisse (Natasha López) and Gomez (Desmin Borges), is converted into a scene of high camp so outlandish, it led to me yelling “what?!” at my screen every other minute. The stilted, on-the-nose writing produces eye-roll-worthy lines like “Love is what gives hope to mortals. It’s the cruelest thing I know.” This isn’t helped by many lines being pulled from the book’s narration and inserted as awkward dialogue.
The time travel rules have been changed too. Instead of just Henry being displaced in time, parts of him also travel around. A baby tooth shows up on the table, a pool of Henry’s blood temporarily appears in the bathroom, cut strands of hair after a haircut may suddenly appear. The purpose of this gimmick becomes apparent at the end of the first episode in the form of an image of Henry’s frozen, amputated feet. It is clearly meant to ominously foreshadow an awful fate, but comes off as laughably ridiculous.
The season has an undeniable pacing problem. A lot of this is owed to added drama that drags out plot-points. More understandable is the massive amount of time it focuses on them as kids. It’s therefore surprising when the show leaves out major elements — it swaps the angst of Clare’s mom having bipolar disorder for her parents (Jaime Ray Newman and Michael Park) simply being judgmental of Henry’s career; Charisse is barely a character outside of one exceptionally weird scene — and cuts small but significant details like Henry being Jewish (I have a theory that this is because James could never in any sense pass for Jewish). But the most confounding piece of information is that this is not a limited series. One would think that six whole episodes would be enough to adapt a 500-page book (in contrast, the 10-episode first season of Game of Thrones adapted its 900-1,000 page book down to the last detail), but the show only gets midway through recounting the book, and is planning on at least one more season to finish its tale.
Aside from the bad writing, acting, and plot choices, the show even looks poorly produced. The wig James sports for much of the series is dreadful, as is the makeup he and Leslie wear for the scenes where they play older versions of themselves. Some of the costume changes are questionable as well. The meadow that is so central to their relationship looks like a set — the rock and the shrubs look fake. It’s hard to think of an element of this show that doesn’t go out of its way to be bad. If only time travel were real, they could use it to go back and do it right.
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Series Premiere, Sunday, May 15, HBO and HBO Max
Conversation22 Comments
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O
Couldn't agree more with this entire review. Clare's acting is only fleetingly okay, which ruins things for me. And, I agree the "meadow" looks like a set, but also why isn't it a meadow? And, when she notices everything is a mess in the 5th episode, that looks fake as well. On top of the fact that this is supposed to be her parents land. Would they allow such trash on their land? It doesn't even make sense. Such a shame all around because the show has so much potential, as I love that it has time to work through all the different experiences that happen for them in different orders. But, I am constantly disappointed.
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R
This is my all time favorite book, and I've probably read it six times. THANK YOU for this review, because you nailed every single reason why I was forced to hate this series. I wanted so badly to love it, but it is has no resemblance to the novel I love. The tone of the whole show is bitter and angry and it's not a love story. James and Leslie unfortunately don't have any real chemistry outside of screaming at each other. The effects remind me of a bad daytime soap opera. They choose to narrow in on weird details of the book, like Henry meeting himself as a teenager, while missing the overarching theme of a tragic love story. Only finished it because it's my favorite novel, otherwise would've stopped after episode 2. Disappointed but will still be my favorite book.
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O
Linda, your sincere review is actually too polite. The yelling/bickering/screaming couple is outdated and should no longer be considered amusing or romantic. I hope this series will not be renewed.
34 1
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G
Unwatchable. Go back to Sanditon Theo!
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C
Matt, your review is spot-on! Horrible acting, wigs, makeup, production. The series just spotlights unhealthy relationships.
30 1
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R
Theo James always plays the same character, just different projects.
34 7
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C
Agree, unwatchable! Miscast male lead is absurd with beady close-set eyes and brown mop on his head. Zero chemistry with the wife and the yelling is disturbing and inappropriate. Hope the series is cancelled!
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Debolm5, I agree. IMO, Henry is Downton's Pamuk /Sanditon's Sid Parker/Dauntless' Tobias: cringe worthy one-dimensional acting with constant verbal abuse of the female characters. Enough, already.
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C
This show was amazing. One of my favorite shows of all time adapting one of my favorite books. I loved the acting. I loved the casting. It was beautiful and heartfelt and funny. I don't know what alternate universe show this reviewer watched but I am very sad that there will not be another season. They should at least make a final episode to wrap things up.
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C
Loved the show. This critic couldn’t be more wrong.
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G
I agree-I loved the series. After the last episode I tried to watch the movie and found it to be insipid. I would love to see a second season! Audrey Niffenberger herself said the adaptation by Moffatt was wonderful.9
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C
Hey Matt! How about new rules? No Help Wanteds!
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B
I generally love time travel movies and shows but so far this one is mediocre.
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P
Thanks! If you check the byline though, you’ll notice I wrote it, not Matt
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O
S2 was unwatchable!
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O
It's ironic that the show was trashed by critics but has a current audience rating of 84% on RT & 7.7 on IMDb.
I watched the entire series & found myself laughing & crying throughout. Loved it & hope for a S2!
3 21
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O
The points make no sense, this show is much closer to the book than the movie which the author herself never watched but she's a consultant on this and didn't change a word! A couple doomed by time travelling is just supposed to fall into love instantly, the bickering actually makes sense!
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G
Saw it Sunday and have no clue why you gave it such a bad review. Fun to watch, acting is fine, music is good.
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P
As a lover of the book, I think the casting here is by far better than the movie that was made. Bana could not have been a worse choice and while I do like McAdams she was a poor choice too. When I first saw the trailer for the new adaptation, I was thrilled that HBO was doing it and that they appropriately cast these actors.
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G
Wow. Who hurt you? I watched all 4 episodes so far and it was entertaining. Definitely not unwatchable.
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P
I love the series! It's just awesome.
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G
Watched the first three episodes & the writing & acting is phenomenal.
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