'A Wrinkle In Time' A Review

A Wrinkle In Time is a family fantasy film, an adaptation of the classic young adult novel. Meg(Storm Reid) struggles with life at home and at school, still grappling with the sudden disappearance of her scientist father Alex(Chris Pine) some four years before. Her younger brother Charles Wallace(Deric McCabe) introduces Meg to some eccentric woman Mrs. Whatsit(Reese Witherspoon) and Mrs. Who(Mindy Kaling) and implies that something is going on/they will be doing something big. After looping in Meg's classmate Calvin(Levi Miller) Charles Wallace introduces them to the third and most powerful celestial mystery being Mrs. Which(Oprah Winfrey). They then travel to another world and begin their adventure- to rescue the missing Alex from the malevolent dark force the IT.

Reid does a good job shouldering the bulk of the narrative and emotional burden of the film but is hamstrung by CGI spectacle and an uneven arch. She shines in the moments where she can but much of the script is gummed up with clunky exposition and muddled intent. McCabe puts in a valiant effort but he is simply miscast, he's attempt at preciousness is grating, and tonally his chipper smiles don't match with the contemplative age-inappropriate wisdom the character calls for. Miller is a waste of space, seemingly only there as, barely, teen eye-candy. Yikes. Witherspoon is frenetic to the point of incoherence, Kaling is hobbled by beautiful but cumbersome costuming and only being able to communicate through quotes, Winfrey is the only one of the three that is comfortable and confident providing the necessary gravitas and emotion. Pine is another stand out but has limited screen time, the most effecting scene of the film by far is between him and Reid at the end. Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the mother Kate is criminally under used and barely has a presence in the film. For the most part the casting is decent but the actors have to put forth such Herculean effort to make sense of the bedraggled script there isn't time or energy left to do much else.

Many of the production elements are confused and confusing. For a seemingly dark film or at least with some dark content the film utilizes a color pallet of mostly pastels. All the scenes, until the predictable CGI monster finale, are brightly lit. It is oddly disconcerting to seemingly have the bulk of the action take place at a bright and cloudless 2pm. The three Mrs. all have glittery almost abstract fantasy fashionista costumes for seemingly no reason nor is it ever explained what they are. When we visit the IT it is equally bright for all darkness has been brought up repeatedly. There a number of large CGI action sequences that seemingly come out of no where or have no motivation or both. The script takes some baffling liberties in its adaptation that seemingly make the plot and relationships more confusing not less. No real time is spent on character development or emotional connection and the "message" of the film only comes in at the very end when we are belted about the head with it.

The film isn't bad it's disjointed and messy. There are some touching moments and some cool visuals but it just doesn't come together. The heart and imagination the source material calls for do not coalesce.

Stream It.