‘A Wrinkle in Time’ fails to iron out flaws
Could any version of “A Wrinkle in Time” live up to the lofty expectations? Hard to say. But this one doesn’t. There are moments of real power and beauty in Ava DuVernay’s film, based on the much-loved Madeleine L’Engle novel. You just have to work too hard to find them. It’s a jumble, at times almost incoherent in its storytelling (Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell are credited with the screenplay). A strong, diverse cast can’t save it.
The film tells the story of Meg Murry (Storm Reid), a young girl whose brilliant father (Chris Pine), a scientist fascinated with “shaking hands with the universe,” disappears. After four years, he still hasn’t returned. Meg has gone into a tailspin. Her grades suffer, and she’s a loner at school.
Her brother, Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), who was adopted shortly
before their father’s disappearance, is a budding genius whose teachers describe him as “weird.”
Their mom (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), also a gifted scientist, tries to hold the family together. She refuses to give up hope that her husband will return, but it’s becoming increasingly unlikely.
Then, one night, Charles Wallace has a visitor. A strange woman named Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) arrives during a storm, and while Charles Wallace seems to know her, Meg and her mother don’t know what to make of her. Mrs. Whatsit offers a few cryptic observations before telling Dr. Wallace that her husband has shown that the tesseract exists.
Meg — for whom Mrs. Whatsit doesn’t have much use — doesn’t know what to make of the visitor. The next day Calvin (Levi Miller), one of the popular kids, hangs around with Meg and Charles Wallace. Charles Wallace leads them to a broken-down house, where they find Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) inside. She speaks exclusively in well-attributed famous quotes.
Meg is only more confused. Back home, the three children are visited again by Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and, finally, Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), who appears as a giant (there is something fitting about Oprah towering above everyone else). They announce that they believe Meg and Charles Wallace’s father is still alive, and they “tesser” — travel through a wrinkle in time, basically — to search for him.
That’s where the visual landscape expands, and the story begins to collapse. They’re transported to what seem like magical lands, but a visit to the Happy Medium (a funny Zach Galifianakis) reveals that their father is on the planet Camazotz, controlled by The It, a brain that is the source of all evil. The It is always trying to expand and has Earth in its sights. Mrs. Which tells Meg they need warriors — and that she could become one.
This is news to Meg and everyone else because, so far, Meg has mostly complained about how unfit she is for this trip and about all the things she can’t do. That’s when she’s told one of the better lines in the film: “You can do this. You’re choosing not to.”
Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin must make the trip to Camazotz alone, without the “Mrs.” There they find Red (a spirited Michael Peña), who says he can lead them to Meg and Charles Wallace’s father. Tricks and turns and seeming betrayals await, as does a visually impressive, if overly busy, showdown with The It.
Good for DuVernay, whose previous films include “Selma” and “13th,” for trying something different. With “A Wrinkle in Time” she becomes the first woman of color to direct a live-action film with a budget of more than $100 million. Her cast is diverse and talented (though Winfrey, Kaling and Witherspoon have the hardest work, as their celestial beings don’t feel fully realized). The movie’s themes — family, embracing your faults, love — are unimpeachable, but all those impressive parts never quite come together in a cohesive whole.