The time-bending love affair between Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana) and Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams) based on the best-selling novel by Audrey Niffenegger.

CRITIQUE

The Time Traveler’s Wife made my list as one of 2009’s best motion picture. As someone who adores Audrey Niffenegger’s remarkable novel, this was not a reaction I was expecting the first time I heard this movie was going into production. I figured as far as source material went this was one story no one would ever be able to adapt, the book having way to many layers and nuances for a screenwriter to be able to pull it off.

Bruce Joel Rubin proved me wrong. The Oscar-nominated scribe behind Ghost and Jacob’s Ladder, he managed to find a way for this multifaceted story to work on the big screen. Focusing on the evolution of Henry and Clare’s heartbreaking – yet still uplifting – love story, Rubin gets to the core of Niffengger’s work with startling precision, and when all is said and done his script did with relative ease what I had previously been sure was absolutely impossible.

But this isn’t anything I haven’t already said in my previous August, 2009 review. I extolled this picture’s virtues and then some, and for those wanting to read all my thoughts just click on the link right here. I will leave you with my final paragraph only adding that this is one movie that only gets richer and more profound the more I see it, that it is a work of art I maybe underestimated its effect upon me the first time around. With that addendum, here’s my final word (again) on director Robert Schwentke’s spellbinding achievement:

“I am supposed to be angry that this film is engineered as if to exclusively make me cry, supposed to pounce on the fact that it wears its emotional machinations proudly on its sleeve. But that directive is coming from the critical cynical side, not from a place based in whether or not Schwentke’s effort succeeds at all it sets out to do. As this beautiful movie does just that I’m not about to come down negatively. Just the opposite, and like the stories I remember being told as a child The Time Traveler’s Wife is a enduring tale of love and longing I can’t wait to return to again.”

THE VIDEO

The Time Traveler’s Wife is presented in 1080p 2.35:1 Widescreen. This is a stunning transfer, beautifully showing off Florian Ballhaus’ (The Devil Wears Prada) stunning cinematography.

THE AUDIO

Available audio includes English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

This disc only comes with two extras, and while I was certainly hoping for more I am happy to say that both – the Blu-ray exclusive An Unconventional Love Story and the companion featurette The Time Traveler’s Wife: Love Beyond Words – are actually quite excellent. Each running just over 20 minutes in length, these two short behind-the-scenes documentaries add a great deal of insight into the minds of the filmmakers and actors who had the job of bringing the picture to life. These are great additions, almost making up for the fact this Blu-ray offers up nothing else whatsoever.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Time Traveler’s Wife is a wondrous motion picture I absolutely adore. For those interested in an unusual love story told with delicate precision and one that touches your heart right to its very core than this is the Blu-ray I’d urge you to grab.