A Wrinkle in Time

When Madeleine L'Engle wrote her best-selling children's novel in 1962 (by then I was no longer a little bookworm), I doubt if she had any concept of the magnitude of her success. "A Wrinkle in Time" is considered a modern classic: a Hero's (or Heroine's) Journey that takes a girl and two boys to other worlds. Far be it for me to dispute L'Engle's success, although when I DID read it, I wasn't moved and when I saw it on stage in Ashland, Oregon a few years ago, I actively disliked it; my problem is with the plot, so there isn't much I can do about it.

Director Ava DuVerney ("Selma") has stumbled into a social movement (this was filmed before the "Me Too" movement) which makes it timely, relevant and a big-budget PG-rated audience pleaser. Her screenwriters Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell have stayed fairly true to the original and the reviews have been consistently good. Despite the abundant talent and skills on display, I'm sorry to say that I still don't like the plot.

Part of DuVerney's cast:

• Storm Reid ("12 Years a Slave") Meg Murry has lost her father and is determined to get him back, no matter what! (Spoiler Alert: A Tesseract is involved.)
• Deric McCabe ("Stephanie") Henry Wallace Murry is a child prodigy, although it doesn't keep him out of trouble at school. He always seems a couple of steps ahead of the other two children.
• Levi Miller ("Pan") Calvin is a classmate who likes Meg's hair (and Meg). She is bullied at school and he befriends her. Everybody likes Calvin.
• Mindy Kaling ("The Mindy Project") Mrs. Who speaks in aphorisms. Not only that, she cites the author!
• Oprah Winfrey ("The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks") Mrs. Which seems to be the Mrs. who is in charge. She is wise, patient, and very observant.
• Reese Witherspoon ("Big Little Lies") Mrs. Whatsit seems to be still in training, but that doesn't keep her from being a bit opinionated. To her, humans are very limited. She is the comic relief.
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw ("Concussion") Mrs. Murry is a scientist who is interested in the small. Particle physics is a good starting point.
• Chris Pine ("Wonder Woman") Mr. Murry is interested in the enormous, like galaxies! He seems to love science more than he loves his family.

As our trio of guides and the trio of children reach their destination (great CGI), they quickly realize that their search has become a rescue.

This is PG, so there is no profanity, no gunshots, no sweaty bodies, and no vehicular mayhem, but the children will love the ride on that green flying carpet! In my opinion, the most chilling thing is their brief visit to the perfect subdivision, with all of the Stepford-type children bouncing their balls in unison!

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Here is trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/videoplayer/vi3535583257?ref_=ttvi_vi_imdb_19
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