A Wrinkle in Time (2004)

Rave review

I read this book years ago and the movie followed it so well. My kids loved it and they are both teenagers. Good wholesome entertainment. June 16, 2008

I Could Just Cry Over This Horrible Adaptation

The "Wrinkle in Time" book series is my favorite series from childhood. I have read and re-read them more times than I can count over the last 35+ years. The characters, with all their virtues and flaws, are near and dear to my heart. This adaptation contained very little of the wonderful, magical, spiritual story that I love so much. To say I was disappointed with this film would be a great understatement.

If you have never read the book(s) I imagine you will enjoy the movie. The acting is passable, the special effects are well done for a made for TV movie, and the story is interesting. However, if you love the books, avoid this movie at all costs.

I found this statement at the Wikipedia page of the novel: "In an interview with Newsweek, L'Engle said of the film, 'I expected it to be bad, and it is.'"

I feel the need to read the book again to dispel this movie from my mind. June 12, 2008

Boring and unlike the book

This movie is INCREDIBLY boring. I actually fell asleep less than half way through (The sad thing is, I'm NOT KIDDING). The part that I saw was not like the book at all. If they gave this movie a different title, I would not think that it was an adaption of A Wrinkle In Time. I LOVED the book and did not think that it was boring. For this movie however, I felt like the script was written in a week and a half, casting was done in 2 hours, and filming was done in a week. Watch the Harry Potter movies instead. The actors actually show emotion and the special effects are AMAZING (Unlike this movie, where the special effects are equal to that of a school play.). May 29, 2008

Time in a Box

The books came on time and were in amazing shape. I would buy books from you again. Thanks May 26, 2008

Charming kids' movie based on old favorite

Young viewers will find a lot to like in this movie. Kids save the day (and their father) against overwhelming odds, but with help from some very odd characters. The kids, Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace, offer plenty for anyone who's ever felt outcast for being different from the others. That includes a big message about being yourself despite evrything.

The target audience appears to be the tweenagers for who L'Engle's books were originally intended, so adults might find parts unsophisticated. The darkened land of blind conformity reinforces L'Engle's message, though. Being yourself is important - look what happens when everyone tries to be everyone else. The anti-authority message won't work for all kinds of parents, but I think that, in moderation, it's a healthy habit of mind.

Effects really make this movie, even if the actual nature of a mathematical tesseract gets lost. That helps, because some of the plot elements and especially some of the acting lack in subtlety. The child actors did well, though, including a remarkable performance in portraying six year old Charles Wallace.

I read L'Engle's books, but that was when this 1963 book was relatively new so I've mostly forgotten them. For better or worse, this review addresses the WiT movie by itself, without regard to L'Engle's classic. Any book so beloved inevitably disappoints some who love it most - it can never live up to the world that such a reader has already imagined. I understand that frustration, but lots of us don't have the book fresh in our minds. Try to take it for what it is, not for what it's not. It might not suit the youngest kids, but kids of the right age will like it a lot.

-- wiredweird April 30, 2008

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