A Wrinkle in Time

According to everyone who read this 1962 bestselling book, this is one of the world’s best. I wouldn’t know, never having been privileged enough to read it.

But I saw the movie today with my granddaughter, and she seemed bored. She’s nine years old, about five years younger than the heroine of the story, Meg. Most of the film was special effects, and after a while those FX start to wear out their specialness.

The Oprah Effect

When the world found out that she would be involved, people started to pay attention. But, honestly, that’s not enough to make it worthwhile. Reese Witherspoon is funnier, and she steals the show as Mrs. Whatsit.

But the star of the show has to be the young lady playing Meg, Storm Reid. Her journey is the ‘warrior-in-training’ one.  Her “wound is how the light gets in”. Sound familiar?

Finding Father

It’s the hero’s journey. Every great story has it: think Luke Skywalker facing Darth Vader. Megan’s father, Dr. Alex Murry, is lost in space (and time). He cannot find his way back home. He needs help, and Meg needs her Dad. Her ‘cry in the night’ signaled to the universe that she wanted to find (never dreaming that she’d be) the solution to his dilemma.

The four years between her Dad’s disappearance and the present time has undermined Meg’s confident. Adolescence would have done that, too, but this missing piece in her life has made it much worse. She is distrustful, and acting out at school. In other words, she has no reason to “believe in herself”. (When asked, my granddaughter told me that was the message of the movie.)

Children who have missing fathers have to fight harder to gain and maintain their equilibrium. I suspect that’s why so much was made of Meg’s imbalance in the Cave where they meet the Happy Medium (who wasn’t very happy to help). It’s a visual sign.

Conclusion

When Alex apologized to his children and his wife, I cried. The sense of abandonment washed over me like a shower, followed by a feeling of total release.

This film is cathartic. So, for that alone, it is worth the price of admission.

Go see A Wrinkle in Time. Chris Pine isn’t getting any younger.