Movie Review: A Wrinkle in Time

Image found here

I read this book in middle school, and while I remembered liking it, I couldn't remember much else. So when I saw that a movie was going to come out based on the novel, I wanted to refresh my memory. On my drive to the Steel City Blues Festival in Pittsburgh, I listened to the audio book on Audible, so I was all set to see the movie this past weekend.

Like most movies based on books, there were a lot of differences (or errors, as I like to honestly call them) in this film adaptation. There were bits of this film that were nearly as off-base from the book as the third Divergent movie (which essentially used the same title but changed EVERYTHING else). But I'll keep my list to a top 10 (in no particular order):

They're beautiful, don't get me wrong. But they are NOT what the book's author imagined. Image found here.

1. In the book, the three Mrs.'s are OLD. Like, ancient-old. Like, millions of years old. And they aren't fashionistas, either (continue reading for more on the costumes in this movie). Mrs. Whatsit is described as a "tramp," wearing lots of layers of clothing and rain boots, and Mrs. Who wears her glasses most of the time. This is just Hollywood being its normal ageist self, I guess.

2. Meg has two older brothers. I realize they are very minor characters in the book, but the movie acted like they never even existed. Their characters are completely missing!

Image is a screen shot from here.

3. Mrs. Whatsit turns into a male centaur in the book, not an anthropomorphic lettuce leaf. Like, why?! Centaurs are very cool, mystical creatures, while cabbage leafs...are not. I guess the film makers figured audiences couldn't handle A. a woman turning into a male character or B. a female centaur because then how would they deal with the boobs on the human torso part?! I guess our sensibilities are just too fragile...

Interesting idea, but NOT in the book. Image found here.

4.  While the addition of the flowers that "speak color" is quite imaginative, these creatures are nowhere in the book. The children do use flowers to breathe when flying on the back of the centaur into higher altitudes, but those weren't conscious flowers. I don't hate this addition because it is a neat idea, but it obviously disregards the original work.

Just, no. Image found here.

5. The visit to the medium is short in the book, and she's a regular seer with a crystal ball. The movie decided to make the medium a male yogi (played by Zach Galifianakis) with a beard and man-bun. And while the group visits with him, they have to stand on unsteady rock pillars while balancing on one leg...Um, what? Madeleine L'Engle is rolling in her grave. And the film lingers on this scene for so long. I was thinking, "This whole thing is ridiculous. Move on already!"

This is the only glimpse we get to see of Aunt Beast. And yes, it's just a glimpse, because we RACE through the many worlds the characters visit in the book as if we were in a time lapse film. Image found here.

6. Since we wasted so much time visiting the stupid "Happy Medium," the film had to cut poor Aunt Beast, a furry, tentacled creature from Ixchel who cares for Meg. She's so crucial to the book that Meg bestows this special name upon the creature. How could she be left out?!

Image found here.

7. Mrs. Who's glasses can only be used once, but in the film Meg puts them back in her pocket and never considers them again. They were pretty important in the book, but they're downplayed in the film.

His red eyes are about the only similarity between the literary and film versions of Camazotz. Image found here.

8. The film nearly disregards the book's version of Camazotz entirely! Meg and Calvin are in a field that randomly turns into a forest which is destroyed by a earthquake/twister which they have to fly into in order to be thrown over a wall...WHAT?! Where did this come from? When they make it to the weird Communist town with the identical mothers and children who have no thoughts of their own, I thought we were back on track. But no: we're transported to a beach with TONS of beach-goers, and we lose Charles Wallace in the crowd, and that's where we meet the man with red eyes (not at Central Central Intelligence like we're supposed to). While the children do eat food that tastes like sand in the novel, NOWHERE does that sand actually come from a beach. Please.

Image found here.

9. Everything about Calvin is wrong. He's supposed to be an athletic red-head, not a scrawny, tiny-wasted boy. And in the movie he meets Meg and Charles on the streets of a town that looks like L.A., not in a forest like in the book (a creepy old house makes way more sense in the middle of the woods, like it was in the book). His sweatshirt comes and goes throughout the film (huh?), AND he never gets to kiss the girl (since when have movies left kisses out? They usually add too many in!). Poor guy.

Image is a screen shot from here.

10. The mean girl, Veronica Kiley (played by Rowan Blanchard), gets a lot of screen time. While we know in the book that Meg gets picked on and she doesn't play well with others, we don't actually find out the insecurities of her tormentors (i.e. Veronica's eating disorder) or any details like that. Perhaps this is meant to show that no one is pure evil? Or that we should be sympathetic to mean people because they probably have issues we don't know about? (cue MESSAGE) Meh, she just didn't add anything for me.

But there were some positives. The little boy who played Charles Wallace, Deric McCabe, was FANTASTIC. I'm not sure if it's just that he's young, so his acting for his age seemed really impressive, but I thought he did an amazing job. And when Meg meets IT, the brain at Camazotz, she doesn't just see a brain, but she's actually inside of it, surrounded by gray matter and firing synapses. That was cool.

The costumes (outfits designed by Paco Delgado and the film's makeup department led by LaLette Littlejohn) were by far the best part of the movie. Even with the inaccuracies, I truly appreciated how beautiful the three ancient star-beings were portrayed. You'll note that most of these photos came from articles that delve into the great fashion and make-up from the film.

Mrs. Whatsit - Reese Witherspoon
This is the first of the three characters whom we meet in the movie (and the book). She is supposed to be the youngest (although, again, still very old), so her casual manner makes sense in the movie.

In the book Mrs. Whatsit does admit to stealing sheets from a neighbor, so I liked this nod to the novel. And that fishtail braid is on point (even if it is a little mermaid-y). Image found here.

This ethereal look is so pretty! Not many people can pull off blue lipstick, either. Image found here.

Mrs. Who - Mindy Kaling
I knew Reese Witherspoon and Oprah were in the movie, but I didn't know Mindy Kaling would be the third woman in this trifecta. Her outfits seemed to be inspired by the Far East, and I loved how colorful they were. In reading several articles, her fashion is supposed to reflect her knowledge of many different cultures around the world, and her subdued makeup (relative to the other Mrs. W's) has a doll-like look, meant to make her more approachable to the children.

This patchwork ensemble is beautiful. We meet Mrs. Who under a quilt, so this is a nice tie-in. Image found here.

This outfit is truly a piece of art, but why she had to wear those crazy hips in a scene when she would be running is beyond me. Image found here.

This vertical rainbow skirt is amazing! And the Slinky hairdo was the most unique of all. Image found here.

Mrs. Which - Oprah Winfrey
I think Oprah may be the main draw for this movie. Who doesn't love Oprah, especially after her moving Golden Globes speech? Her voice was perfect for Mrs. Which, and her wisdom from reality translated seamlessly into her character. Oprah told Vanity Fair that she thought of Mrs. Which as "one part Glinda the Good Witch, one part Maya Angelou." Plus, who else can pull off all that glitter?!

Derrick Rutledge, Oprah's personal makeup artist, made each set of eyebrows with rhinestones and pieces of metal, placing them on pieces of lace before attaching them. Source here.

The glittery fabrics and makeup were inspired by the fact that Mrs. Which used to be a star. Image found here.

This was my favorite look, especially with that long braid. The eyebrows each took two hours to make, and the technique to erase Oprah's natural eyebrows is quite complicated! Image found here.

This film is certainly beautiful to watch, if nothing else. It's not that I wouldn't recommend the film (I was entertained), but you won't miss anything if you decide to wait 'til it's on Redbox.

PS: While writing this blog post, I discovered there are Wrinkle in Time Barbies!

Image found here