Timeline (2003)

How sad is this?

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Ok, first of I understand there was a book...I don't usually do this with books brought to the screen, but if you forget there was a book, this movie is rather entertaining. Not a blockbuster certainly, but every bit a popcorn muncher...The writing was well done, even if a bit corny in parts, and the acting was pretty good to for a bunch of lesser knowns...the story is about the discovery of a time dislacement wormhole discovery, that allows a group of archeologists to transport back in time to rescue their professor, who inadvertently fell into the wormhole, or something like that.The movie is kinda fun to watch, and the characters are played with quite a bit of zesty enthusiasm...I liked it and have seen it three times now...

I first watched this film around four years ago, and it seemed an OK historical actioner with SF elements which passed the time. I had heard that the film deviated wildly from the novel & was not liked, so I finally got around to reading it, & now viewing the film again agree totally with the criticisms. The plot not only deviates wildly, but makes little sense, & contains laughable acting throughout.In the book the two female characters are two of the strongest in it, & both are very resourceful, brave, physically strong, particularly Kate Ericson. Here they are completely the opposite, hysterical, weak, & seemingly brainless in general. Neither would have lasted 5 min in the novel. For some reason Lady Clare is now the French Sister of Arnaut & doesn't speak English, & in the final minutes has to be saved from hanging in the castle, despite never going there in the novel. In fact all the characters seem to think if they jump around panicking something well happen.Obviously all the English are rotten creeps who butcher the local population, burn down Castlegard (which never happens) and are the villains whilst the noble French are the heroes. The novel correctly shows them all to be extremely violent & not to be trusted. For some reason Lord Oliver is actually a lot nicer in the film than the novel.ITC is in reality a multi billion organisation with state of the art equipment, though in the film it looks like the cast have walked into a budget laboratory, where mad scientists rule. Doringer, who is a not very nice sociopath, is here more of a misguided guy scared of his own shadow.I could go on, but one word of warning, if you are going to see the film make sure you haven't read the novel first as you will be sorely disappointed. Hopefully, one day they might make a decent series out of this, as it has loads of potential, but please have a different cast, as this lot are shocking. Michael Sheen excepted.

I'm not one of those movie watchers that all too often states, after a disappointing movie, "Well that was two hours of my life wasted." I always felt that phrase was thrown in a flippant way by half- hearted movie goers. I may have to change my tune after watching Timeline. I have been searching and I just can't find much of anything positive to say about this movie. The benefit of watching a lot of movies is of course seeing great films, especially ones you may not have seen otherwise. The downside to this formula is that the more movies you see, the higher your chances exist of seeing a movie that is just dreadful.Timeline involves a group of archeology students, their professor, and his son. Their goal is to erect and use a 3-D fax machine to transport objects to different places and times. With this tool, they attempt to time travel. When our lovable professor, Professor Johnston (Billy Connolly) finds himself in 1357 France, it is up to his team of students, led by his son Chris Johnston (Paul Walker). What was supposed to be a simple retrieval and return to the present turned into a disaster with the team nearly being stranded in the middle of a war. When the lead of the team is killed, the inexperienced time hoppers are left to their own devices to try and get home safely, with only a limited amount of time to do so. One of the team members, Andre Marek (Girard Butler) finds love while in France, and decides to stay leaving his team in shock. Eventually, they make it back, with the professor, vowing never to time travel again.What could have been a great story was bogged down by poor acting, disjointed story-telling, and needless explanation. It's a time travel movie and at this point time travel is impossible, the audience understands this before the movie even begins, there is no need to explain to me the how the method of time traveling is working in the movie. I am quite comfortable with the suspension of disbelief it takes to enjoy a movie, had the director respected the audience more and cut down on the explanation, it could have been a more enjoyable experience. Cutting down the lengthy explanation probably wouldn't have made much of a difference though as the acting was far from good. Having never been a fan of Paul Walker or Girard Butler, I shouldn't have expected much from the acting in this film. Both of them were unbelievable in their character, and even though the story revolves around a group of time travelers, the group themselves lacked any chemistry. Even the love stories of the film lacked any passion to lend to their credibility.There was also absent a character in this film that one could root for. There was no one engaging in this film to grab the audience's attention. Timeline proves that a well-shot film will need more than looking good to be good. I am told by fans of the book, that the filmmakers took too many liberties with this film, perhaps which lends to my dislike of it, though having never read the book, because it is just too far out. With no good acting to experience again, a horrible story, and a poorly done far-fetched concept, the only thing I can be sure about Timeline is that I will never see it again.

I liked the movie for it shows a young, charming and beautiful Gerard Butler. He does well as the earnest modern day man transported to the Middle Ages where he reveals himself to be a man of honor and nobility. The movie is a poor interpretation of a phenomenal book and does little to translate the reality of the main characters to film. But for those of us who admire the talented Mr. Butler, it is a must-see. Paul Walker, though very handsome, is not a convincing character. Unfortunately, Frances O'Connor's role is built upon Mr. Walkers's. Billy Connelly is his own inimitable self and holds his own with any one. A must-see for Butler fans, but forgettable in the scheme of things.