A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Ava Duvernay, and starring Storm Reid, Levi Miller, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kailing, Chris Pine and other, is baed on the novel of the same name by Madeilene L’Engle. It is an ambitious, colorful and well acted movie, but is ultimately disappointing because the script by Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell misses the mark, and as the novel has been touted as a difficult product to adapt, Ava also fails to do anything substantial with it. But, that doesn’t mean its too bad. It certainly has superficial pleasures, like the cinematography, which looks fake at times and is derivative of some movies, is still striking and compelling to look at.
All the cast members are very good, and the leads, Levi Miller and Storm Reid are very well suited for their roles, making the most of what they’re given. The supporting cast, while not given much substantial to do, are adequate and lend gravity to the story. But, Ava isn’t capable to make us interested in the narrative and looking at the pretty stuff gets tiring after a while, as there’s not much heft in the movie. There are themes that are nailed hard in your head through dialogues but don’t make much impact.
Still, Ava is a talented director who is capable to make even a basic script like this work in spurts, and it does, until the big, CGI set pieces take over the movie. Watch it if you’re a fan of the books and wanted to see a big screen adaptation, otherwise you can always check it out while its’ streaming online some months later.
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