A Wrinkle in Time (2003) (TV)

Director:

John Kent Harrison

Writers (WGA):

Madeleine L'Engle (novel)
Susan Shilliday (teleplay)

Release Date:

10 May 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

To rescue their father, they must save the universe.

Plot:

The movie is based on a children's series by the same name. Meg and Charles Wallace are aided by Calvin and 3 interesting women...

Plot Keywords:

Father | Time Travel | Supernatural | Journey | Space Travel

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Katie Stuart	...	Meg Murry
Gregory Smith	...	Calvin O'Keefe
David Dorfman	...	Charles Wallace Murry
Chris Potter	...	Dr. Jack Murry
Kyle Secor	...	The Man With Red Eyes
Sean Cullen	...	Happy Medium
Sarah-Jane Redmond	...	Dr. Dana Murry
Kate Nelligan	...	Mrs. Which
Alison Elliott	...	Mrs. Who
Alfre Woodard	...	Mrs. Whatsit
Munro Chambers	...	Sandy Murry
Robert Wisden
Thomas Chambers	...	Dennys Murry
Ellen Dubin	...	Aunt Beast
Guy Fauchon	...	Bingo Man

Also Known As:

Un raccourci dans le temps (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

USA:128 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

BLT Productions

Trivia:

Originally produced as a miniseries.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Mrs. Whatsit says, "if this insect wanted to travel across my left hand to my right hand..." the insect is actually sitting in her right hand, pointing towards her left hand.

Quotes:

Meg Murry: How do you do it? I mean, how can you read us?
Charles Wallace Murry: I don't really know. Uh, you just tell me... just everything about you tells me.
Meg Murry: Why don't you read the twins?
Charles Wallace Murry: It's because they don't need me as much.

Movie Connections:

References Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

A beautiful book lost in all the "Disney-ness"

I was absolutely horrified within the first 15 minutes of watching the abomination they called "A Wrinkle in Time". I've been such a fan of the book and the other two that followed that my book has worn away from 20 years of reading it over and over again. Disney DID NOT capture the true essence of this book and it's obvious that the director was neither a fan nor sat down and tried to understand the entire story.

I could go into a huge list of what was wrong with the movie - besides the fact that the story was told out of sequence, major flaws developed out of the lack of characterization and the actors that were casted for the children were completely wrong. The actress who portrayed Meg was like a cardboard cutout - she lacked emotion and I felt nothing for the character (unlike the empathy and compassion I felt for Meg in the book). Did the actress even read the book? Meg was supposed to be an ugly duckling - with glasses and braces and a very ordinary/awkward look about her. I didn't see any of that portrayed in the movie Meg. That's the entire being of the character!!! It's because of what Meg is on the outside that it becomes so important for her to learn that it's truly what she has on the inside that counts - on top of that, Calvin is able to see the real her through the glasses, braces and supposed ugliness. That's what helps to create the bond between Calvin and Meg. Don't even get me started with the lack of understanding for the true character of Charles Wallace.

The themes were skimmed across, important characters where hacked apart or changed all together and IT (who is a very main character of the story) was cut down to 5 minutes in the movie. WHAT?!?

Since I am losing comment space, I will sum it up by saying that I truly hope Disney doesn't get any bright ideas about filming either "A Wind in the Door" or "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" - but if they do, I would highly recommend hiring a director who is such a fan of the work (like Peter Jackson and the Rings trilogy) that they do the stories justice.

I think I am going to open up the book one more time and relish the beauty of the writing in an effort to wash away that pathetic effort they called a movie last night.