A Chicago librarian suffers from a rare genetic disorder that sends him hurtling through time whenever he is under extreme duress; despite the fact that he vanishes at inordinately frequent and lengthy intervals, he attempts to build a stable future with the beautiful young heiress he loves.

Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams star in this dramatic fantasy, which is directed by Robert Schwentke and based on the best-selling book by author Audrey Niffenegger.

With very little advance hype and marketing thus far, The Time Traveler’s Wife seems set to simply disappear at multiplexes come Christmas Day 2008.

Which is a pity as it is based on one of our most favorite science fiction novels of recent years, namely Audrey Niffenegger’s debut novel of the same name. Sure, like 1984 and Brave New World it was however marketed as something more “literary” than “mere” sci-fi. But come on! For starters, the idea of a nude time traveler is stolen straight from the Terminator movies and its ideas of mutant genes from the X-Men!

What Niffenegger however does with its central conceit – our time traveler hero cannot control when he time jumps and for how long - is unique. The Time Traveler’s Wife is a truly clever, original and emotionally affecting piece of work. It is everything the over-rated cult item 1980 Somewhere in Time starring Jane Seymour and Christopher (Superman) Reeve attempted to be, but never was.
So if you are looking for something a bit more cerebral and involving than your average Tolkien rip-off such as Sword of Shannara and Eragon weighing down the SF / Fantasy shelves at your local bookstore, then check out Niffenegger’s novel.

To be honest we are not entirely convinced that the movie will do the book any justice. For starters, the emotionally reticent actor Eric Bana (from the Ang Lee Hulk movie) may fit the character’s description and looks, but we don’t know if he’s got what it takes to pull the role off convincingly . . .