Science and magic, when combined, should give birth to magnificent results. That’s the expectations for Ava Duvernay’s vision for author Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle In Time.”
Middle schooler Meg Murray (Storm Reid) is a lost potential in her school. Isolated and anti-social, she is bullied. She is still reeling from the effects of the mysterious disappearance of her scientist father four years ago.
One night, her intelligent and annoyingly positive little brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) lets in a weird stranger into thir home: Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) who told their mom, Kate (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) that she and husband Alex (Chris Pine) were right about the tesseract.
In the events that follow, the Murray kids, along with their friend, Calvin (Levi Miller), met the two other mysterious ladies, Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), who is obviously the Beyonce of the group, and soon found themselves thrust into a whole new dimension.
Her desire to search for her father came into fruition with the help of the three otherwordly ladies. But her reluctance and self-doubt will not make it easy. Add to that the pressure that comes with an evil entity trying to take over the universe.
The leads were a little bit underwhelming. McCabe evidently pushed his acting chops but there is something about his nuances that made him a little annoying to watch.
Thank heavens for Witherspoon, who was ethereal and charming. Winfrey was, as always, regal, and provided the needed calm for the characters.
The message was very in-your-face. It’s all about self-acceptance, keeping hope alive and good prevailing over evil–things our lead character went through. It’s a little disappointing, however, that she didn’t have momentous scenes that showed her transformation from being a scared, reluctant girl to a fierce warrior of the universe.
In fact, most of the lessons of the film were translated more clearly by Winfrey’s dialogues compared to Meg’s personal journey.
“A Wrinkle In Time” was made to be an epic adventure and its grandiose production design somehow compensated for the lack of emotional impact of the characters’ storylines.
It is definitely a stunning visual treat. But there are moments when even the impressive effects will not be enough to create the kind of impact that well-fleshed out storylines can offer. I was craving for more from the script (Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell) because the novel was rich. While the movie was a good watch overall, I think we could have had more.
Photo credits: Walt Disney Studios
