Year: 1980
Rating: * * 1/2 stars
Rating: PG
Cast: Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer
Somewhere in Time
is a movie that I somewhat embraced as a kid. I was intrigued by the whole
concept of time travel (the gist of what's on screen). Also, it was unique in
that it was filmed almost entirely on Mackinac Island (I
grew up in Michigan
"Time" tells the story of playwright Richard
Collier (Christopher Reeve). He is mysteriously visited by an elderly woman
while doing a play as a college student somewhere in Northern
Michigan . Fast forward 8 years later and he is living in Chicago Mackinac Island .
A sense of Déjà
vu kicks in and Collier realizes that the woman he met 8 years
ago was a famous actress from the year 1912 (Elise McKenna, played with
restraint by Jane Seymour). She in fact did a play on the Island
so he decides to go back in time to see her. After Reeve's character
successfully realizes that he has mastered the art of time travel (he dresses
up like someone from 1912 and puts old coins in his pocket. Oh yeah, he also
lies on a bed and says over and over that he is in the year 1912), he goes to
great lengths to find her and fall in love with her. This is all to the disenchantment
of her overprotective and overbearing manager William Fawcett Robinson (a very
young Christopher Plummer).
If you look at "Time" in hindsight, it's the type
of cinematic exercise that probably could have gone from being 1hr. 44 minute
(film's running time) to maybe 2 hours and some change. It's weird saying that
because if you ask most moviegoers about the length of a film, they'll probably
say it's too long or drags too much. "Time" is the opposite. I'm not
saying it's because it feels like scenes were literally left out on the cutting
room floor. That's not the case. What I'm saying is that additional scenes
could have been added to explain the general actions of the characters more.
What we get from "Time" is something that was edited too tightly and
got rushed out to theaters back in 1980. The ending, although terrific on
paper, lasts for maybe 30 seconds. Then there's the musical score. It's
hauntingly beautiful but it seems to come in at wrong points in the movie. It
feels like a cheap solution to beef up dramatic momentum when it's obvious to
anyone watching, that there isn't any. The film also has the mistake of giving
the lead role to the late Christopher Reeve. He looks the part, he's in every
frame, but it feels like he's trying way too hard. You can tell back then, that
he wanted to break out of the whole type casting thing with his success in
Superman (1978). Added to the miscasting of Reeve is the love story between his
character and Jane Seymour's character. Besides the fact they are both involved
in theatre, there is really no blatant evidence to back up the notion that
these two people would actually fall in love. They spend one day together (5 or
6 scenes in the whole movie) and there is barely any conversation between the
two of them. If it was lust I'd accept that. But it's annoying that we as an
audience are manipulated into thinking that these two people belong together
when in fact they barely know each other. Among other things, this in a
nutshell, is the biggest misstep with "Time." The biggest bright spot however, is the
casting of Christopher Plummer as the antagonist. He's menacing and cold. He
pretty much does the whole Robert De Niro thing by out acting everyone with his
eyes. Sadly though, he doesn't command much screen time and is woefully
underused.
Ultimately, Somewhere in
Time is not a bad film. It's just the type of film that had the potential
to be so much better. I mean it’s beautifully shot and has a great sense of
time and place. But when it came to character development and a strong script,
everyone involved, was "somewhere" else.
Written by Jesse Burleson
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