The Time Machine

Directed by Simon Wells (H.G. Wells' grandson)
Starring: Guy Pearce, Mark Addy, Phyllida Law, Orlando Jones, Samantha Mumba, Omero Mumba, Jeremy Irons.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence.

Review by Evelyn Gildrie-Voyles <evy@filmhead.com>
March 14, 2002

This light little sorbet of a movie will probably be shown on basic cable for eternity, which is the perfect place for it. It already feels like a Sci-Fi Channel original movie with slightly better special effects.

Guy Pearce plays Alexander Hart, a brilliant inventor who builds a time machine after watching his beloved die. He goes backward in time only to watch his beloved die again. He then goes forward and sees all the positives and negatives of endless progress. He finally stops 800,000 years in the future where humans have evolved into two distinct species: pretty ethnic people and ugly monster thingies. Apparently in the future, the better looking you are the nicer you are. Mara (Samantha Mumba) is very nice.

The acting is all fine, but no one has a very challenging role. Orlando Jones's portrayal of an immortal sentient computer was the most emotionally touching part of the film. Pearce is an exceptional actor, but he plays a character who represses most of his emotions and channels them through invention and investigation. This does not leave room for lots of acting pyrotechnics.

The time travel sequences are beautiful and the ugly scary things are ugly and scary, but the film is completely unremarkable. When it was over, I barely felt that it had ever begun.

Here's some merchandise for sale at

The Time Machine, a novel by H.G. Wells	-- Hardcover
The Time Machine, a novel by H.G. Wells	-- Paperback
The Time Machine, a novel by H.G. Wells	-- Audio Cassette (read by Ben Kingsley)
The Time Machine: Score	-- Compact Disc

webmaster@filmhead.com