Somewhere in Time (1980) * * *

Directed by:  Jeannot Swarzc

Starring:  Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer, Bill Erwin, Teresa Wright

Time travel is usually a subject that will perk up my interest in a movie.    The idea of somehow being able to defeat time and move it backward to stop its inexorable progress is one that I enjoy.    The hero in Somewhere in Time, playwright Richard Collier (Reeve), uses self-hypnosis to travel back in time to 1912 to meet the woman whose portrait hangs in a hotel lobby.    He is in love with the woman in the photo.    This is a man who goes to great personal pains to essentially get laid.    The woman, a stage actress named Elise McKenna (Seymour) is a near flawless beauty, and I suppose nothing ventured means nothing gained.    

Somewhere in Time is naturally silly and preposterous, but it is still a well-made, beautifully photographed romantic drama with a powerful, haunting John Barry score.     I admire the way the cast leaps headlong into it and takes it seriously.    Since they are convinced, so are we.    There are plot holes and questions, such as did Richard's body or soul travel back to 1912?   The film kinda sorta explains that, but since the movie can not move forward without the time travel, we go along with it and ask questions later.

This was Reeve's first post-Superman film (he filmed parts one and two back to back) and he shows genuine dramatic chops.    He has conviction and that goes a long way in absorbing us into his love (or obsession) with Elise's 68 year old picture.   Seymour's Elise is an American actress with a strong British accent, but let's not quibble.    She is stunning.    Besides, Richard's romantic possibilities seemed limited in 1980, so why not give time travel a shot?   His former college professor convinces him that it is possible.    I think he even wrote a book about his methods, which involve putting everything modern out of sight and hypnotizing yourself into believing that you will wake up at the exact moment you want to go back to.   What happens if your mind wanders and you start thinking about 1812 instead of 1912?    What happens then?    You'll be very disappointed that you missed Elise McKenna by one hundred years.     

I know it sounds like I'm bashing the film, but I truly did like it.    What's not to like?   I am fond of unabashed romances that aren't afraid to be bold.    Now a confession.    When I first saw this movie, I was ten years old.    I think I even attempted the professor's self-hypnotic time travel method to travel back to who knows when.    It didn't work.    Maybe it's because I was lazy and didn't put away my Star Wars toys.