11.22.63 (2016) * * * *

 

Limited series starring:  James Franco, George MacKay, Chris Cooper, Sarah Gadon, Josh Duhamel, Daniel Webber, T.R. Knight

Time travel is utterly fascinating as a concept and in science-fiction.  11.22.63 explores its possibilities and its limitations and rarely fails to be involving and creative.  Based on Stephen King's novel, 11.22.63 centers around an ordinary man traveling through a time portal to stop Kennedy's assassination.  As 11.22.63 opens, Jake Epping (Franco) is a newly divorced teacher in his hometown of Lisbon, Maine.  He teaches adults at night to acquire their GED's and one story an older student writes about the night his family was murdered by his drunken father stirs Jake.  More on that later. 

Jake frequents Al's diner run by Al Templeton, who reveals to Jake that his closet acts as a time portal which will take him back to the same spot on October 21, 1960.  No earlier, and no later.  Jake tries it and finds he is deposited briefly back in 1960 before being shipped back to the present.  Al reveals some rules which go along with the portal.

*  The portal will only work in Lisbon, Maine and send you back to October 21, 1960.

*  No matter how long you're gone in the past, you'll alone be gone for two minutes in the present day.

*  Your actions create a butterfly effect.  I'm sure you know the theory.

Al used his time in the past to try and prevent Kennedy's assassination.  However, the trip came at a cost.  Al developed cancer in the past and is too sick to continue, so Jake agrees to go along.  Al prepares him for all possibilities, including providing him with cash, a small diary of sporting event outcomes which he can bet on for guaranteed success (a la Back to the Future II), and also information he found in his investigation of Lee Harvey Oswald (Webber) which only took him as far as 1962.  Jake asks why he didn't just kill Oswald.  What if Oswald wasn't acting alone?  Killing him would not solve the puzzle nor necessarily prevent the assassination.

Since Jake has three years to work on this, he is sidetracked by other adventures and people along the way.  Does he travel to his student's hometown in Kentucky to prevent his family's murder?  You bet.  By doing that, though, he gains an unlikely ally in Billy (MacKay), who stumbles across Jake's plan and agrees to assist.  The pair move to Dallas and begin their work.  Jake settles in as a high school teacher who falls for fellow teacher Sadie (Gadon), who is separated from a stalker husband (Knight) who doesn't intend to let go of her so easily.

Spread out over eight engrossing episodes, 11.22.63 plays like a Whack-A-Mole of thrillers.  One problem is solved, the next one pops up.  Franco is centered and focused.   Since he's trying to do what he thinks will be good for the future of the world, we hope he succeeds.  Another question which is answered is:  Will sparing Kennedy automatically bring about a better future?  Just because a horrific event is prevented doesn't mean the rest of history will improve.  

The series has a sense of time and place which never fails to be riveting.  As Jake struggles to keep his eye on his mission, one issue after another which could affect others' future pops up, especially with Sadie.  Why 11.22.63 succeeds so well is how it juggles its subplots and understands the paradoxes and even sets new rules for time travel.