Review: A Wrinkle In Time

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

Ava DuVernay's adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's novel "A Wrinkle in Time" is a film I admire that is both visually stimulating and well intentioned, even if it doesn't completely work as a movie. It's the type of picture that many people have been calling upon Hollywood to deliver for years - a blockbuster with a diverse cast in which the heroes are mostly women of varying ages. It's also encouraging that the two films dominating the box office at this moment - this film and Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther" - were made by black filmmakers, one of whom is a woman. Hollywood has long passed over people of color and women to direct movies and it is heartening to see films being made that are more representative of both groups.

But while Coogler's jump to big budget blockbuster filmmaking has been a success, DuVernay's is less successful. On the other hand, while Coogler's first two pictures - especially "Fruitvale Station" - was very good, DuVernay's work - "Selma" and "13th," most notably - has been more substantial, in my opinion. So, it's a disappointment to say that "A Wrinkle in Time" is the first film in her oeuvre that could be considered a misfire.

One of the elements that works in the film's favor is its good-naturedness. The film's leads are good and conscientious people, and the picture takes an earnest approach to the material. Even the film's one human villain - a mean girl who torments Meg (Storm Reid), the film's protagonist - gets her shot at redemption, at least to an extent. In other words, this is a film that sees the good in others and mostly relegates evil to a nebulous being known as "The It."

I'm not going to delve too far into the scientific elements of the plot. But to summarize: Meg's scientist father (Chris Pine) disappeared four years prior to when the story is set after having discovered a way to travel the universe by using his mind. His wife (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is a fellow scientist and Meg's younger brother, Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) - whose name is repeated more during the course of this film than Forrest Gump said his own - is considered a genius.

One day, Meg is approached by three otherworldly beings - known as Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) and Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) - who tell her that her father is lost in the universe and that she can find him if she utilizes his method of travel via the mind. This, of course, leads Meg - who takes the journey with her brother and a young admirer named Calvin (Levi Miller) - to come face to face with "The It," during which she uses clues from the three Mrs. to complete her mission.

There are some great images in "A Wrinkle in Time" - a field full of flowers that move of their own accord and an eerie dimension in which Pine's character is trapped - but the film often overdoes it with the visual effects, often to the point of muting the story's drama. The filmmakers assembled a strong cast, but often leave them without much to do - Mbatha Raw mostly wears a look of concern, Winfrey makes pronouncements, Witherspoon is the ditzy Mrs. and Kaling's character can only speak via quotes by famous people.

DuVernay's previous works exhibited confident directorial control over their subject matter, whereas "A Wrinkle in Time" feels a little all over the place. For years, the book has been deemed unadaptable - full disclosure: I've never read it - and this picture, although charming and visually stunning in spurts, appears to prove that designation to be correct. It's a slight misstep from a great director.