The process to adapt L’Engle’s
book to film took over forty years but for a lot of different reasons. The
author was hesitant to see her work poorly done on film, until early in the
2000s when she apparently gave the green light to an adaptation that was given
through the Walt Disney Company. Disney began production on their adaptation in
the spring of 2001, with the main target that ABC would air the two-part
miniseries during the February airings the following year. In fact, the
earliest commercial for this made-for-TV production aired on the “Spy Kids” DVD
in September of 2001.
However, the February
2002 showings came and went along with November’s. ABC rescheduled “A Wrinkle
in Time” for February 2003, but it was again delayed with reasons because the network
wanted to find a better airdate. The airdate that they decided on was a Monday Night
in May of 2004, where the film would air in one 3-hour timeslot. DVD Dizzy noted
in their review, “Critics took Disney to task for burying the film, airing it
on a school night and ending at 11:00. Most children missed it, as did adults,
and when the Nielsen ratings were in, Wrinkle finished fifth among the networks
for its time slot, and wound up in a lowly 60th place for the week.”
DVD Dizzy continued, “In
light of the ineptness with which it was scheduled and marketed, one would
think Disney was trying to downplay Wrinkle for being some kind of a disaster
of epic proportions. But on the contrary, their modestly-budgeted TV adaptation
is quite successful, which may frankly have you scratching your head as to why
the movie was shelved for years and given a timeslot when few would see it.”
In the film, just like
the story, Meg Murry, played by Katie Stuart, is a smart but shy young teenage
girl who is not having a very good time inside or outside of school. She’s not
very popular in her grade or with her teachers, and when she’s not dealing with
people calling her younger brother a freak, she’s dealing with the sudden
disappearance of her father.
Meg’s scientist father
(Chris Potter) left his scientist wife (Sarah Jane-Redmond) and four kids (Munro
and Thomas Chambers) with no reason or forewarning, and no one really knows
what they should decide on. Meg’s younger brother, Charles Wallace (a name he
is called completely countless times throughout the movie), played by David
Dorfman, has gotten really bad for not talking to anyone outside the house. Even
though he’s quite in school and in his neighborhood, Charles Wallace is good at
listening. DVD Dizzy noted, “He's also special in an unclear way; perhaps he's
a genius. He's in tune with foreign voices he hears and is able to know a
variety of things that will happen (or perhaps he just says that he does).”
Meg’s mission to find
her father is started by the mysterious arrival of a magical woman who goes by
the name of Mrs. Whatsit, played by Alfre Woodard. Meg, Charles Wallace, and
friendly neighborhood boy Calvin O’Keefe (Gregory Smith), with some help from
Mrs. Whatsit and her two other witch colleagues, Mrs. Who (Alison Elliott) and
Mrs. Which (Kate Nelligan), go on an adventure through time and space to other
planets.
DVD Dizzy mentioned, “This
trio of youngsters are up against a dark force which has turned one society
into routine-following. This same darkness, which feeds individuals false
happiness by tapping into their dreams and interests, is holding Dr. Murry
prisoner somewhere in a Central Intelligence building on this nightmarish
planet Camamotz.” “It,” as the force is called, fights Meg and friends through
The Man With The Red Eyes, played by Kyle Secor, and gives really difficult
tests to restore the balance Meg wants in her life.
“A Wrinkle in Time” ruthlessly
adapts a book that is weird, inspiring and rewarding, and it does this with
mostly adequate ways. What may disappoint eager fans of L’Engle’s books is that
the movie strives from its source in so many ways. DVD Dizzy said, “The
forty-year-old text has undergone a fair amount of revisions. Thematically it
still calls back to simpler times, but stylistically it has a modern look and
sensibility.”
To start off, it’s really
shortened so much, which does not look that way it started out. (As I
mentioned, main plans called for a two-part four-hour miniseries, and what came
to be ran in a three-hour timeslot. DVD Dizzy noted, “There's a hearty amount
of deleted scenes provided elsewhere on the DVD, too.) While editing patches
things together fairly smoothly, there is some choppiness to the narrative as
constructed here.”
DVD Dizzy continued, “The
rich subject matter which makes for such a good page-turner doesn't always
translate so well to the screen. L'Engle's writings truly spark one's
imagination, and to have these theoretical and puzzling adventures realized in
one particular way does rob the story of some of its delights.” Some of the
scenes just work better on page than on screen. In the film, the character of
Happy Medium, played by Sean Cullen, is now a poor comic relief and the “romance”
between Meg and Calvin looks a little reduced and not very convincing. DVD Dizzy’s rebuttal was, “But this established adaptation wins you over in a way
all its own, evoking similar pleasures in an epic journey through the infinite
that's also quite intimate.”
After being released on
DVD five months after its long-delayed television airing, “A Wrinkle in Time”
has a new chance to be found and loved by audiences, including those familiar
with the Newbery Medal-winning book. This may be the first that some people
heard of the adaptation, which is sad. DVD Dizzy said, “But it's somewhat
understandable how such a noteworthy production could get lost in the shuffle
amidst the modern television atmosphere, in which network and cable channels
offer no shortage of fantasy miniseries.” (It’s evidently still not easy to
advertise since the DVD cover shows a flying horse and castles but the film
doesn’t have either.)
This type of movie, whether
you like it or hate it, does deserve more attention. DVD Dizzy said, “Much went
into pulling a film from L'Engle's novel, and with the apparent intentions of
doing it justice rather than using its reputation to get ratings.” “A Wrinkle
in Time” may be too crazy or “out there” for children, but teenagers and adult
viewers, especially those who read the book, might enjoy.
After delays and one
badly-scheduled TV showing, Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time” was released on DVD to
look for the right audience. Fans of the book by Madeleine L’Engle’s may be
split on the values of this adaptation and how far from the book it is. DVDDizzy said, “In its transition from page to screen, this ambitious production
may not satisfactorily "bring to life" everything from L'Engle's
novel. But viewed on its own, I think Wrinkle works rather well as a movie,
evoking similar feelings and wrapping you up in its mind-bending adventure
through the infinite.”
Truitt continued, “Director
Ava DuVernay (Selma) tries hard for a big-hearted fantasy adventure akin to The
NeverEnding Story with an enchanting teen heroine and sparkling visuals.”
Still, those pros can’t help this movie, which is stolen by a sad, nerve-wracking
adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s sci-fi children’s novel.
Meg Murry (Storm Reid)
is a loner teenager who’s teased by bully girls at school (led by Rowan
Blanchard, who you might remember as Riley Matthews from “Girl Meets World”)
and not really the straight A student she used to be before her NASA scientist
dad (Chris Pine) disappeared four years ago. After her recent talk at the
principal’s (Andre Holland) office (Meg throws a basketball really hard in the
face of Blanchard’s character for making fun of her extraordinary little
brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) the Murry kids and their mom (Gugu
Mbatha-Raw) are visited by the strange Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon).
Truitt noted, “Meg
finds out that in trying to "shake hands with the universe," her
father discovered a tesseract, a way to bend space and time in order to travel
to other dimensions.” Mrs. Whatsit and her two friendly witch colleagues, Mrs.
Which (Oprah Winfrey) and Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), tell Meg that an evil forced
called “The It” has taken Mr. Murry, and the three enlist Meg, her classmate
Calvin (Levi Miller) and Charles Wallace as the newest kids to fight this
spinning force of darkness.
Truitt credited, “While
Pine, who's not in much of the movie, is all bearded emotion as the troubled
Mr. Murry, newcomer Reid lends a surprising amount of gravitas to Meg as she
grows from distrusting shy girl to determined protagonist. Witherspoon's Mrs.
Whatsit flings sharp insults with a smile, like a magical grown-up version of
Election's Tracy Flick, and Mrs. Who is an oddball who mainly communicates via
quotations from famous figures like Churchill and Shakespeare. The highlight of
their trio is Winfrey's over-the-top, grandmotherly Mrs. Which: The bejeweled
lady just looks like she gives out the best hugs ever.”
DuVernay also does
magic in creating a beautiful fantasy landscape. She has a great visual method,
with close-ups and viewpoints that aren’t normally seen in the genre, and
combines the familiar with the alien: Truitt noted, “When Meg and her crew
venture to The It's planet, they're met by Stepford moms and kids in a freaky
suburbia followed by a trippy jaunt to a busy beach with Red (Michael Peña), an
evil Colonel Sanders type whose hypnotic presence is all too fleeting.”
L’Engle’s source
material is a cleverly emotional novel for kids, and Jennifer Lee and Jeff
Stockwell’s screenplay doesn’t do anywhere close to those themes of death, loss
and parents letting their children down. Truitt is right when he said, “Instead,
theirs is a patchwork adaptation with weak character development, a lack of
narrative groove and a haphazard finish.”
Truitt continued, “At
least it does nail a certain underlying sweetness: A young Meg's dad tells her,
"Love is always there, even if you can't feel it," and that's echoed
throughout the fantasy.” They successfully switch up the characters from the
book (it was DuVernay’s idea to make Meg African American and have her
otherworld witch mentors be younger than their elderly book versions) expands
the movie’s demand. (Between Meg, Shuri in “Black Panther” and the women of “Annihilation,”
female scientists in movies are having a great 2018.)
Truitt ended his review
by saying, “Youngsters will enjoy DuVernay's visuals and strong-willed main
character, while the older folks marvel at the inclusion of a new Sade song
(her first in seven years), though across the board, this disappointing Time
will cause more than a little wrinkling of the forehead in frustration.”
In the end, both of
these adaptations were doomed from the start and should never be watched. The
new version was visually nice but everything was a failure.
Now that we got that
done, tomorrow will be one review for the final couple of days left of “Disney
Live-Action Month.”
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