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Film / The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)

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"Could we pretend just for a minute that this is the first time we've met?"
Henry

The Time Traveler's Wife is a 2009 romantic science fiction film. It is the 2009 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, starring Eric Bana as the Time Traveler and Rachel McAdams as the Wife.

Henry DeTamble (Bana) is a librarian with a rare disease that makes him randomly travel through time. These trips are seemingly at random and leave him naked and helpless; along the way, he is helped by older versions of himself who have traveled back to the same moment.

In young adulthood, Henry meets Claire Abshire (McAdams), a spirited artist who is convinced she'll marry him. It turns out that as an older adult, Henry travels back repeatedly to meet Claire as a child and she has fallen in love with him. The two begin a relationship and eventually marry despite the struggles caused by Henry's disorder.

The film costars Arliss Howard and Michelle Nolden as Henry's parents, Ron Livingston as Gomez, Stephen Tobolowsky as Dr. Kendrick, and Hailey Mc Cann as Alba.

The book received another adaptation in 2022, this time a series starring Theo James and Rose Leslie.


Tropes in the film:

  • Adaptation Dye-Job: In the book, Clare's hair is described as red-gold, through most of her life. In the film, Clare as a young girl has red-gold hair, but Clare as an adult (played by Rachel McAdams) has reddish-brown hair. Clare as a teenager (also McAdams) is halfway between the two.
  • Adapted Out: The film cuts a few book characters, such as Henry's childhood landlord Kimy and his first girlfriend Ingrid.
  • Adoption Is Not an Option: The titular wife has trouble getting pregnant with her husband's baby due to his genetic makeup, but never considers adoption.
  • Book Ends: The movie starts with Henry's mother encouraging him to sing, only for young Henry to say he can't. At the end, when Henry visits Alba and Clare in the future, Alba tells him to sing to keep from vanishing, and again Henry says he can't.
  • The Cameo: Henry and Clare's wedding band is Broken Social Scene.
  • Coquettish Lip Biting: During Henry's first meeting (at least from his point of view) with his future wife Clare, he gets weirded out by her when she gives him an intense Meaningful Look while biting her lip.
  • Foreshadowing: There's an oddly lingering shot of a child watching Clare and Henry walk by talking about their difficulty having a child. She seems like just a thematically appropriate bystander, but is in fact their own time-traveling daughter.
  • Lighter and Softer: The film is somewhat gentler to its characters compared to the novel. Henry keeps his feet and Gomez isn't in love with Clare.
  • No Sympathy: Clare chews Henry out for disappearing for about two weeks. Almost the entire plot is how Henry time travels involuntarily and frequently, and she is aware of this. And he has to go apologize afterwards.
  • Now I Know What to Name Him: Claire and Henry name their daughter Alba after meeting a future version of Alba who tells them her name.
  • Shaped Like Itself: Gomez does this when he's trying to explain to Clare about Henry's condition.
    He's a time traveler. You know.... cause he travels... through time.
  • Stable Time Loop: The most prominent time loop in the film is the fact that Clare has been falling in love with Henry since she was 6 years old, and then has a huge role in shaping Henry into being the sort of man she fell in love with.
  • Time Travel for Fun and Profit: Henry and Clare are having money problems, and their relationship is starting to crack. So, he uses his ability to find out the winning lottery numbers and get the $5,000,000 first prize. Clare is initially appalled at his misuse of his ability, but he points out that his ability is, for the most part, a curse, so why not get something good out of it?
  • You Can't Fight Fate: In a confrontation with his dad about why Henry has not stopped his own mom from dying: he replies that he has tried, but he can never get there in time to make a difference.

Alternative Title(s): The Time Travelers Wife

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