Young archaeologists time-travel to the 14th century and bring back 116 minutes of tedium.
By PHILIP BOOTH
Published November 26, 2003
[Photo: Paramount Pictures]
TIMELINE: Gerard Butler, left, plays Andre Marek, and Anna Friel is Lady Claire in a time-travel “adventure” likely to make moviegoers watch the clock.
Even the most intrepid time traveler might have trouble journeying far enough back to find a time-travel movie as uninspired as Timeline, an unsatisfying adaptation of the bestselling Michael Crichton novel.
Still, the big-budget yarn, directed by Richard Donner (Conspiracy Theory, the Superman and Lethal Weapon franchises) has distinctions, of a sort: One character, handsome history buff Andre (Gerard Butler), preaches that "the past is where it's at - it helps us understand where we come from or where we're going," while another, cute workaholic Kate (Frances O'Connor), asks the eternal question, "Do we look like quantum worm-hole specialists?" Dialogue like that doesn't come cheap.
The above-mentioned characters, as must be obvious from the sparkling discourse, are brilliant young archaeologists, working a dig in the Dordogne Valley of France, where they hope to uncover the long-buried secrets of a 14th century castle.
Their work is interrupted by a mission of mercy: Professor Johnston (Billy Connolly), the brilliant, beloved leader of the dig, is stuck in France, circa 1357, and he can't get out. So Andre, Kate, the professor's son, Chris (Paul Walker), and several others agree to have their molecules rearranged - or something like that - in order to follow Johnston into the 14th century.
But rapid rescue missions and ticker-tape parades aren't in the stars for this bunch of would-be heroes. Instead, they're plopped into the middle of the Hundred Years War between England and France and pursued by helmeted, sword-carrying knights on horseback.
The futuristic techno-thriller becomes, for all intents and purposes, a medieval adventure story, with battle scenes and other sequences reminiscent of other, better movies, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The rescuers variously escape from a thatched-roof prison, foil the hanging of a French warrior's sister and discover a secret tunnel connecting a monastery to a French castle occupied by the British.
Sure, Chris - who comes off as Bill (or is it Ted?) on another excellent adventure - and the others cavalierly change the course of history in ways that would have dramatic, long-term consequences. But, hey, who has the time or inclination for thoughtful explorations of quantum physics when love is all around?
Timeline
Grade: C
Directors: Richard Donner
Cast: Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, Ethan Embry, Anna Friel
Screenplay: Jeff Maguire and George Nolfi, adapted from the Michael Crichton novel
