Release Date: October 3, 1980
Run Time: 103 minutes
Rating: PG
Based on the book "Bid Time Return" by author Richard Matheson, "Somewhere in Time is a sweeping, sad, and beautiful movie about soul mates, time travel, and the things we do for love.
This touching movie came out in 1980, starring the beautiful Jane Seymore as Elise McKenna, a talented stage actress, and Christopher Reeve as Richard Collier, the playwright who loves her.
As the movie opens, Richard is a student at Millfield College in Chicago and he is celebrating the opening night of his first play, a happy success that might just be Broadway bound. Surrounded by critics, actors and friends, Richard is incredibly surprised when he is approached by an elegant elderly woman who looks at him intensely, puts an ornate pocket watch in his hand, and says, "Come back to me!" before walking away.
Eight years later, he is still carrying the pocket watch and has written several successful plays. Following a break-up with his girlfriend, he heads to The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan as if he's following a mysterious star. As he is waiting for the dining room to open for dinner, he wanders into the Hall of History, and comes across the picture that changes his life forever.
If you have seen this movie already, you owe it to yourself to see it again. If you have never seen it and you are a lover of romance, then what are you waiting for?
The music alone - from Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" to the Somewhere in Time Theme Song - is completely exquisite. The scenery is lovely and the hotel is beautiful and since it is an actual place, you may even get the chance to visit it someday.
There are many subtle, sweet, and interesting things to watch for and to ponder. Watch closely in the opening scene and you might catch the very young William H. Macy speaking his one line. Keep an eye out for Arthur, the bellboy at the hotel - and the absolutely adorable little boy he once was. And ponder, for a moment or two, just how old you think that pocket watch might truly be and how many loops through time it has traveled. That thing is even more durable than a Timex!
I love so many things about this movie. I love the clothing everyone wears. I love how people tease Richard about his completely out of style suit. I love when Elise firmly states that she is "not a doormat - do not attempt to wipe your boots on me!"
Most of all, I love the way this movie makes my heart swell as I am swept away by the music and the beauty, laughing at one moment and crying the next. Make sure you watch this one with some tissues close at hand!
(I was not paid to write this review. I watched this movie as part of my own personal DVD collection and all my opinions and thoughts about it are my own.)
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