Save time now, watch ‘Timeline’ later

PEGGY ROGERS

A team of archaeologists travel back in time to the 14th century only

to discover they can’t return home when their time machine breaks

down. That is also the fate of the story in “Timeline,”

unfortunately.

Based on the book by Michael Crichton, which has been lauded by

many as a great book, director Richard Donner (“The Omen,” “Lethal

Weapon”) doesn’t make it translate to the screen.

Plenty of men jump at the chance to be the first guinea pigs to

make the trip through a time and space wormhole back to 14th century

England, including the archaeology professor (Billy Connolly.) When

he doesn’t return his son and students volunteer to travel back in

time and rescue him. Now all of them are stuck in the past, and there

is nothing they can do to fix their situation because the machine

that teleports them through time and space is like a fax machine not

an airplane. This is where the Timeline’s story breaks down.

The archaeologists are left helpless. They can’t fix their

situation because they can’t fix the time machine created in 2003,

when they are in 1347. All they can do is wait and hope that their

inability to return home is only temporary. Until that time all they

can do is run for their lives. They landed in the middle of a pending

battle between the English and French and both sides believe the

scientists are spies for the other side.

Meanwhile, the supporting characters work quickly to fix the time

machine’s problem. That problem becomes a greater problem when they

spend their time bickering about whose to blame for the problem

rather than fixing the situation.

Like a performer spinning plates in the air “Timeline” needs to be

careful about juggling too many stories at one time. A new story is

put into play between the leaders of the French and English armies.

Yet another story develops about a man who got left behind in the

past long before the archaeologists got sent back. And then there are

the love stories between some of the characters to juggle. Too much

is happening.

The overall story spins out of control because there are too many

plots to follow, too much explaining to do and too many people in bad

situations to be able to care about.

“Timeline” is better suited for television, the type of show that

gets aired very late at night on a local station. The characters are

not only underdeveloped they are also obvious knockoffs like the

film’s evil computer mogul who chooses to dress, look and act like

Bill Gates in a really bad mood. The film’s logic shifts back and

forth between sound and bad reasoning. All the archaeologists stuck

in the past remind each other not to interfere with the brewing war

between England and France because if they change the course of

history it might mean they’ll never be born. And yet that’s the first

thing they do when they get the chance is to alter the course of

events that range from letting the people from the past live that the

history books say died on that day to killing people that might have

lived.

“Timeline” should have gone straight to DVD. It’s not a bad movie,

it’s just not good enough for the time and money spent on going to

see it on the big screen with friends. Save it for a rental.

* PEGGY J. ROGERS, 40, produces commercial videos and

documentaries.