Somewhere in Time
Review by Paul Preston
Welcome to Today I Watched…, a series of posts documenting my new challenge – watch a movie a day for the rest of my life. Keep coming back to TheMovieGuys.net to find out what I watch each day…and get my take on it.
When I see a movie that’s a new release in theaters or for home viewing, I’ll give it a proper review in the “Reviews”, otherwise, I’ll write about it here.
March 2, 2017 – Table 19 – catch the review of this Anna Kendrick film in the REVIEWS category of TheMovieGuys.net.
March 3, 2017 – Logan – catch the review of Hugh Jackman’s last go-round as Wolverine in the REVIEWS category of TheMovieGuys.net.
March 4, 2017 – Somewhere in Time
Not exactly sure how I missed this 1980 romance (which has a rabid fan base out there) until now, but I’m out of Movie Jail on this one. My initial thoughts – it was odder than I expected. It’s one thing to be lush and romantic like a James Ivory film, but Somewhere in Time is from the director of Santa Claus: The Movie and quite often the film would get lost in out-of-place humor or over-the-top melodrama. But there are those (or perhaps MOST) who would say, “That’s why we love it!”.
I caused a lot of back-and-forth on my Facebook feed when I said my wife and I thought Christopher Reeve might’ve dreamed the whole thing. Seems like a harsh condemnation to dismiss the whole film’s major device, buuuuut….there is a guy who says, “You know what, think of going back in time a lot when you go to sleep and you’ll go back in time”. Perhaps…in your dream?
The real winner of the film is John Barry’s score. I know it gets used now for wedding marches and more and for good reason. I think we all know three-time Oscar winner Barry is no joke. That is a hell of a score.
The real movie is the one where we see what’s going on in current time while Richard Collier is experiencing his time travel – Chris Reeve walking around his hotel room, sweating and waking up in a different room entirely. I’d like to see that in a DVD extra.
Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc
Release Date: October 3, 1980
Run Time: 103 Minutes
Country: USA
Rated: PG
Distributor: Universal Pictures
