Though I had never read the book, I had heard good things about "The Time Traveler's Wife". Girl falls for guy, but girl has a hard time with guy because guy keeps leaving girl alone, because, you know, it's in his genes.

Normally, that would just be another cliched plot for a romance flick. In "Time Traveler's Wife", it's given a twist in that the hero, Henry, disappears because a genetic anomaly causes him to travel in time. So though he leaves the heroine, Clare, alone, he actually reappears in her life somewhen else. Initially, it made the movie a tad hard to follow, because it jumps in after Clare has already "met" him earlier in her life, so the audience has to quickly catch up to follow what's going on. That probably works in the written form, but on-screen, it could prove difficult for audiences who are more used to a chronologically linear form.

But once I figured it out, the plot actually worked. I could see why and how both of them fell in love with each other and were willing to stick it out, in spite of the trouble that his anomaly caused (besides broken dishes and lonely Christmases). I think a lot of people who live with absent spouses or partners, like traveling salesmen, would really understand how Clare felt about her situation.

However, I thought that both Rachel McAdams' performance was rather flat. She portrayed the pining, whiny Clare rather well, but that was the problem: she was pining and whiny. Somehow, she didn't manage to make Clare able to rise above her predicament.

At least her good looks provided some eye candy in the film.

Eric Bana was, unfortunately, relegated to second fiddle. Which makes sense, since this film was entitled "The Time Traveler's Wife". It's a pity, though, because I thought he played his part quite well. As his character aged and became accustomed to his "gift", I could see his attitude change from one of "oh shit, here it goes again" to "hmm, I'm fading, lah-dee-dah". I also thought that he was able to bring across his character's anguish and hopelessness towards the end of the movie.

And once in a while, I actually expected him to "Hulk out" at any moment, haha!

All in all, this was a truly sappy romantic flick. Its story worked hard to tug at my heartstrings, and I understand that it caused some people to actually cry (I maintained dry eyes!). There were moments when I was rooting for the characters, and others when I wanted to scream, "Oh, get on with it!" And the ending was entirely predictable, if a tad dragged out too.

Maybe the end result was because of its "translation" from print to screen, so some bits did not work as well as they should've. But if you enjoy curling up with your loved one for two hours of romantic escapism, then this probably the movie for you.