Jeannot Szwarc’s “Somewhere in Time” (1980) has always maintained this constant presence in my life, mostly because it’s the only movie that could, without fail, make my mother cry.
In fact, even mentioning the film to her casually does the trick. I used to tease my mom endlessly about this movie. Now, I’m no longer immune to it. In fact, I’m a fan, though, like Christopher Reeve’s main character, it took me many years.
“Somewhere in Time” begins in 1972, where Reeve stars Richard Collier, a playwright who is elated by the success of the opening night of his latest production. In walks an elderly woman, by herself and immediately drawn to Richard.
She goes right up to him and says, “Come back to me.” It’s quite the opener.
Years later, Richard takes a trip to the Grand Hotel, located at Mackinac Island in Michigan, a real place (more on that later). While researching a work in progress, he comes across the photograph of a gorgeous, long deceased woman, who he learns was once Elise McKenna.
Elise was a celebrated stage actress in the early 20th century and Richard can’t stop staring endlessly at her framed photo in the Grand Hotel Museum.
We get it: Elise is played by a luminous Jane Seymour.
Richard’s studious research gives way to an all-out obsession. A chance conversation on the possibility of time travel, as well as some nifty occurrences to support the theory, suggests the old woman at the beginning of the film was no mere groupie.
Using painstaking hypnosis, Richard is able to travel back in time and encounter Elise before the fateful photograph was taken (a wonderful, telling moment). Richard has two very real problems: in order to keep himself back in time, he cannot think of anything contemporary, and he is third wheel to Elise’s jealous, controlling manager (a commanding Christopher Plummer).
Reeve, looking young and beautiful (he made this right after initial “Superman” duty) is the main reason why this hokey, illogical love story maintains its grip. Another big reason is John Barry’s score – even before it gets to its famous theme, Barry’s composition is rapturous.
There are more shots of Reeve staring at Seymour’s portrait than the film knows what to do with, but Barry’s score, which does a lot of dramatic heavy lifting, keeps Swarzoc’s film feeling sincere instead of unintentionally funny.
“Somewhere in Time” has it both ways – it’s a cautionary tale about being terminally enamored by the past but also a wish-fulfillment fantasy about how Collier gradually realizes that time was always going to bring him together with the love of his life.
Szwarc’s film is slow but sweet and not only maximizes Barry’s contribution but Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” The film is such a pleasure to listen to.
This is a sweet, earnest and lovely film. The whole thing is simple and uncomplicated in its goals. It’s also among the looniest films to ever depict a concept of time travel. Richard Matheson’s screenplay is based on his 1975 novel, “Bid Time Return.”
The emotion of the film is easy to connect with, while the sci-fi is featherweight at best.
A shot of Reeve’s face reflected on Seymour’s portrait is key here. It’s a lovely metaphor visually (our minds connect us profoundly with those who are gone) but ridiculous and half-baked on a literal level. Remember, Richard is using a tape recorder and repetitious phrases to go back in time.
By comparison, a plutonium-fueled sports car makes far more sense.
Richard isn’t using time travel to stop world wars from occurring, prevent human suffering, nor invest in future technology. No, he wants to keep staring at Jane Seymour.
Anyone who grew up watching “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” can relate. For everyone else, you’re probably too cynical for this movie.
John Barry’s score is as lovely as one remembers but it also counters the silliness. When we keep cutting to yet another scene of Reeve gazing at Seymour’s portrait, the music swells and informs us that this is meant to be romantic longing, not remotely creepy.
“Somewhere in Time” feels like it should be longer by at least 10 minutes. There’s no follow-up with Plummer’s character in the third act, nor much reflection of how the present is impacted by the past, aside from what we’ve already learned from the first act.
If there’s a major factor as to why this weepy drama utterly works, it’s Reeve. When the character returns to his time, he’s terminally heartbroken. Reeve conveys this with such conviction, I found my cynicism backing down.
The actor is as passionately committed to the role as he once was to Superman.
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Seymour manages to make her character a bit more than a mere plot device, though not enough comes explanation across in the Machiavellian pact she shares with Plummer’s character.
That said, Plummer, playing a Rasputin/Salieri figure, can do so much with a look or simple inflection, his character is intimidating in the way he usually reserved for outright villains or whenever Captain Von Trapp was rounding up the children via whistle.
Plummer can be so intense by being utterly still (note how he also does this in the 1978 “The Silent Partner”) and speaks so coldly and condescendingly to Reeve, you can’t help but flinch.
The chemistry between Reeve and Seymour makes up for the puppy love dopiness of their romance. A lengthy sequence of their first date, complete with a rowboat and horse and carriage ride, plays like a parody of a similar montage from “The Naked Gun” (1988).
There are so many questions this raises when it’s over, like why does it take Elise so long to find Richard later on, how can one mentally only fixate on the past while time traveling (wouldn’t an ‘70’s song get stuck in Richard’s head at some point?)
Matheson’s depiction of Richards’ journey is a device to meditate on the pain of disconnect from the past.
“Somewhere in Time” is about loss. Unlike the wish fulfillment fantasy of “Back to the Future” (1985), or even the espionage of “Tenet” (2020), the idea here is that if you’ve lost someone once, time travel will only allow one to experience that trauma twice.
Hence the phenomenon of “12 Monkeys” (1995), where we don’t realize how we’re facing destiny until it’s too late and impossible to go back.
Whereas the past/future contrast and wish-fulfillment fantasy of Nick Cassavetes’ “The Notebook” (2004) ultimately leads to the best possible happy ending that scenario can allow, Szwarc’s film concludes in a much heavier way.
I have never been to Mackinac Island, where the film mostly takes place, but I did call one of the hotel reps in 2012, when I was compiling data for a college thesis paper. I spoke to a friendly hotel authority who explained to me that the tourism the film created was still robust.
I also learned about I.N.S.I.T.E., an acronym for the International Network of Somewhere in Time Enthusiasts.
I’m now at an age where the aspects of “Somewhere in Time” that I used to find unintentionally funny truly get to me. I don’t stare endlessly at old portraits like Reeve’s character does, but I’m often taken aback by photos and keepsakes I encounter that transport me to a moment I’ll never get back.
I also find talking to my mother about it a different experience today. In fact, hearing her speak about the movie today actually makes me cry.
My mom will speak passionately about time gone by, losing herself into what Arthur C. Clarke once called “the mental mists of our minds.” She recalls with great emotion someone who hasn’t been alive for many decades.
I get it, as I’m now doing the same thing when I describe key figures of my past to my daughter, my wife or anyone who will listen. To remember someone long gone and recall affectionate details about them is a small way of keeping them alive.
That’s what “Somewhere in Time” is truly about.
The sad truths and rich emotions of the film have finally caught up with me. I guess it’s time to fill out an I.N.S.I.T.E. membership.
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