A Wrinkle In Time
review by Drusilla Blakey
Disney has been on a role bringing their animated film to live action with mostly great success, but that isn’t stopping them from stepping out into new worlds as well. Their latest foray into fantasy comes with A Wrinkle in Time based on the Madeleine L’Engle’s timeless classic starring Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Pena, and David Oyelowo with Selma director Ava DuVernay at the helm. Could this latest flick capture the magic of the book or will it fail to find its way back home?
A Wrinkle in Time follows Meg Murry, a typical middle school student struggling with issues of self-worth who just want to fit in. The daughter of two world-renowned physicists, she is intelligent and uniquely gifted, as is Meg’s younger brother, Charles Wallace, but she has yet to realize it for herself. Complicating matters is the mysterious disappearance of Mr. Murry, which has left Meg devastated and her mother broken-hearted. Charles who have journeyed to Earth to help search for their father, and together they embark on their formidable quest where they must confront a powerful evil force. To make it back home to Earth, Meg must face the darkness within herself in order to harness the strength necessary to defeat the darkness rapidly enveloping the Universe. I feel that this movie comes at a very opportune time, when the constant scrutiny of social media is an ever present danger in the lives of children and teens. Lately, so many stories have come to light exposing the harsh reality of online hatred and bullying. So many young people are suffering and this movie reminds us that although we are all different, we are all valuable.
As I watched the movie, I began to wonder if it will be possible for parents to get their kids there to watch it and if younger teens may find the whole thing a little bit cutesy and trite. Definitely, as an adult watching the movie, it does come off a bit juvenile and simple. However, at the start of the film, we had a special message from the director asking us to view the movie with the mind of a child. Bearing that in mind, the movie is entertaining and I believe fans of the book will be especially excited to see these characters come to life.
The performances of the three Mrs.’ was cute and a bit over the top, which I believe was intentional but not so much that it became annoying. I really enjoy Mindy Kaling from her show but was sad that she did not speak much in the film. This is because her character has evolved beyond speech, but still, this was a bit disappointing. As always Reese Witherspoon was a joy to watch and I loved seeing how she interacted with her younger co-stars. As a longtime fan, it’s been fun to watch her acting evolve to suit her age from young teen, to a ‘mom’ character.
Also interesting to watch was Zach Galifianakis as The Happy Medium. Although he does not appear for very long in the film, we do get to see a different, more emotional side which was very enjoyable. Another interesting and something a bit odd to me was that the clips from the trailer were not in the film. I kept waiting for certain things to happen and they never did. So I was a bit confused, however, the story is fairly well laid out and simple enough to follow.
Overall the most enjoyable thing was the amazing costumes. The three Mrs.’ always looked stylish from head to toe. Hair, makeup and clothing were chosen with great care and represented well the personalities of each. Additionally, the visual effects were nice and seamless and gave you the true feeling of being on a different planet. My hope is that both adults and their children will enjoy this movie together and remember that the most important thing in the universe is love.
In addition to the film this release includes bonus content including bloopers, original songs/music videos, commentary, deleted scenes, and a featurette taking you behind the scenes of bringing this film to life. Join the magical adventure when A Wrinkle In Time hits Digital 4K UHD/HD/SD, Movies Anywhere, On-Demand, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on June 5th from Disney Home Entertainment.