I'm just an old softy for this movie
Somewhere in Time (1980) is apparently a cult fave, a fantasy romance about time travel, based on the writer's own vivid dream about Maude Adams. Here we have Christopher Reeve as a writer who has a weird experience with an old lady who turns out to be a former actress named Elise McKenna. He becomes obsessed with her because of the gift she hands him and because she died that very night. Years later he self-hypnotizes himself and time travels back to 1912 where he stalks the real actress (Jane Seymour) only to learn she has been waiting for him. They filmmakers wisely skip most of the "science" here and concentrate on the romance.
The gorgeous setting of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan and perfect period costumes (Oscar nominated) lend a lush feel to this slim story. A key element is Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op. 43" which is beautifully complemented by John Barry's lush score. Reeve and Seymour are fine. Christopher Plummer plays Seymour's possessive manager who seems to have some foreknowledge of disaster relating to Seymour and Reeves interacting that he could only have had if he had done a little time traveling himself. Alas, this is never explored beyond a few curious lines of dialogue by Plummer.
The gorgeous setting of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan and perfect period costumes (Oscar nominated) lend a lush feel to this slim story. A key element is Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op. 43" which is beautifully complemented by John Barry's lush score. Reeve and Seymour are fine. Christopher Plummer plays Seymour's possessive manager who seems to have some foreknowledge of disaster relating to Seymour and Reeves interacting that he could only have had if he had done a little time traveling himself. Alas, this is never explored beyond a few curious lines of dialogue by Plummer.
- AlsExGal
- 23 nov 2025