A Wrinkle in Time

For many years, Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved 1962 sci-fi fantasy was considered un-filmable due to its complex story steeped in religion and spirituality. Nevertheless, Disney backed director Ava DuVernay on this $100 million-plus project revolving around rebellious, biracial Meg Murry (Storm Reid), whose adolescent angst is increased by the disappearance of her physicist father, Dr. Alex Murry (Chris Pine). The underlying goal is for Meg to let go of her emotional baggage, grow more confident, and accept herself as she is, faults and all. So Meg embarks on a cosmic journey, ostensibly searching for her father who went missing after he discovered a breakthrough method of traveling great distances through space using a tesseract. Meg is accompanied on this quest by her precocious younger brother (Deric McCabe) and an admiring, supportive classmate (Levi Miller). They are led by three ethereal beings: capricious Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), quotation-spouting Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), and colossal, all-powerful Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey). When they visit verdant Uriel, populated by talking flowers, Mrs. Whatsit transforms into a green dragon, taking them on a galactic ride on her cabbage-leaf-like wings. Eventually, resilient Meg must match wits with The IT—a giant, disembodied brain (voiced by David Oyelowo). A Wrinkle in Time features bold feminism and progressive multiculturalism, but it is ultimately burdened by a diffuse and often confusing storyline, along with too many garish, overbearing visuals bordering on the psychedelic. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Ava DuVernay, producer Jim Whitaker, screenwriter Jennifer Lee, production designer Naomi Shohan, and other crew, “A Journey Through Time” making-of featurette (30 min.), deleted scenes with optional commentary (10 min.), bloopers (2 min.), and the music videos “I Believe” by DJ Khaled featuring Demi Lovato, and “Warrior” by Chloe x Halle. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic novel.] (S. Granger)