A Wrinkle in Time

Director: John Kent Harrison John Kent Harrison

Overview

A pair of misfit siblings travel across time and space to save their father from enslavement in this made-for-TV adaptation of the classic children's novel by Madeleine L'Engle. Meg Murry (Katie Stuart), a tomboy who fits in with neither the kids nor the teachers at her New England middle school, feels bereft when her scientist father vanishes, leading to unsavory speculation from small-town gossips. But thanks to Charles Wallace (David Dorfman), her gifted but idiosyncratic younger brother, Meg befriends Mrs. Who (Alison Elliott), Mrs. Whatsit (Alfre Woodard), and Mrs. Which (Kate Nelligan) -- three cosmic beings who lead Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O'Keefe (Gregory Smith) on a journey to the sinister planet Camazotz, where Dr. Murry (Chris Potter) has been captured by the coercive power known as IT. Afflicted by hubris and na?vet?, young Charles Wallace falls under IT's thrall, forcing Meg, Calvin, and their allies on a dangerous flight across time and space. But thanks to the healing touch of a kindly monster known as Aunt Beast (Ellen Dubin), Meg is able to face her own insecurities and attempt a final rescue of her loved ones. Originally broadcast May 10, 2004, on ABC, A Wrinkle in Time was released as an installment of the long-running Wonderful World of Disney.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/22/2020
UPC:	0032429345851
Original Release:	2003
Rating:	NR
Source:	PARAMOUNT
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:08:00
Sales rank:	25,083

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Katie Stuart	Meg
David Dorfman	Charles Wallace
Chris Potter	Jack Murry
Gregory Smith	Calvin
Alfre Woodard	Mrs. Whatsit
Kate Nelligan	Mrs. Which
Alison Elliott	Mrs. Who
Kyle Secor	The Prime Coordinator
Ellen Dubin	Aunt Beast
Sarah-Jane Redmond	Actor
Seán Cullen	Actor
Jeff Danna	Composer

Technical Credits

John Kent Harrison	Director
Fitch Cady	Producer
Michael Leahy	Producer
Jordan Kerner	Executive Producer
Patricia Rozema	Executive Producer
Jay Firestone	Executive Producer
Adam Haight	Executive Producer
Josanne B. Lovick	Executive Producer
Catherine O'Dell	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

In the age of the Harry Potter juggernaut, it's easy to root for a made-for-TV adaptation of a beloved children's fantasy written decades before that genre seized the zeitgeist. But ABC's version of the classic fable A Wrinkle in Time fails in so many ways that it's impossible to rejoice, no matter how wonderful the source material. From cheap, incredibly hokey special effects to tween pandering at the casting call (why is Meg so attractive?) this Disney TV movie has compromise written all over it. To begin with, Susan Shilliday's screenplay spends far too much time establishing the plot's background and protagonist Meg's essential miserableness. By the time the supernatural hijinks kick in, young viewers -- not to mention their adult compatriots -- may well have lost interest. Even worse is the portrayal of Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which, three beguiling presences in the novel whose translation into the cinematic flesh proves far to fussily eccentric and not nearly magical enough. The final nail in the film's coffin comes in the casting of David Dorfman as Charles Wallace, Meg's frequently mute, yet incomparably brilliant five-year-old brother. Broadcasting his character's abnormalities as if he were auditioning for "Rain Man: The Early Years," Dorfman saps the power from a character who should be engagingly understated. Depressing literalism proves to be the film's overall crippling failure; if the budget doesn't allow for a computer-generated facsimile of magic, the least the filmmakers could do is provide the real thing in the writing.