The Time Traveler’s Wife

A young woman (Rachel McAdams) falls in love with and marries a man (Eric Bana) who, like Kurt Vonnegut’s Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five, is unstuck in time, unable to control which moment in his life he will live next. Audrey Niffenegger’s novel must have struck Hollywood as the answer to a prayer—a science-fiction date flick, tailor-made to draw the chicks and the dudes in equal numbers (think of it as Twilight for grown-ups). Bruce Joel Rubin, who won a 1990 Oscar for Ghost, would seem a perfect choice to adapt the book, and in fact he delivers a tantalizing jigsaw puzzle of a script, with smooth direction by Robert Schwentke. Bana’s soulful pout meshes well with McAdams’ sprightly intensity; both are nearly upstaged by Hailey McCann, in a poignant cameo as their 9-year-old daughter.