Tripwire Reviews A Wrinkle In Time

A Waste Of Time And Space

♦ Tripwire’s editor-in-chief JOEL MEADOWS reviews Disney’s new children’s adventure A Wrinkle In Time, out now…

A Wrinkle In Time
Director: Ava DuVernay
Stars: Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine

Based on the popular children’s novel of the same name by Madeleine L’Engle, which was published back in 1962, A Wrinkle In Time seems to be the sort of film that Disney used to make a lot more of. Before the days of Marvel and acquiring Star Wars, the house of mouse would put out charming kid’s films like Herbie Goes Bananas and Pete’s Dragon.

A Wrinkle In Time is the story of Meg Murry (Storm Reid) a young girl who struggles to fit in at school after her scientist father Alex (Chris Pine) disappears. It turns out that her father managed to prove one of his scientific theories and has found himself stranded on another plane of existence. Meg has a younger brother, Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) who is a savant of sorts, attuned to the mysteries of the universe. So when three female figures appear out of the blue to guide Meg on her quest to locate her father, the adventure begins.

The three figures are Mrs Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs Who (Mindy Kaling) and Mrs Whatsit (Reece Witherspoon).

Apparently, A Wrinkle In Time is a much-loved book in the US but I had never heard of it until the film was announced. Visually it is quite impressive in places although sometimes Winfrey looks like an escaped Klingon and Reid is decent as central protagonist Meg. A Wrinkle In Time seems to take its colour palette from a packet of Skittles, vomiting its multicoloured adventure onto the screen. There is a serious point here about female empowerment but it totally overwhelms the rest of the film. It also has a hectoring, schmaltzy and patronising tone which prevents it from actually being a fun ride. I am obviously not the demographic here but films can appeal to children while also containing extra ingredients that adults can enjoy.

A bearded Pine looks bored here while pretty much everything lacks any real nuance and subtlety. The cast make the best of what is a pretty flimsy script. The best in children’s books can bewitch and enchant their readers and perhaps this adaptation does a disservice to L’Engle’s work.

Reid could be a name to watch as a younger actor and DuVernay has been attached to Warner Bros’ DC New Gods comic movie. However she displays none of the flair here that a film like this requires to make it entertaining for this particular reviewer. A Wrinkle In Time is a forgettable children’s film.

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