# Somewhere in Time (1980) - Spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 19, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615 "2007-03-19T19:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/1 "2007-03-19T19:18:59Z")
I finally watched this movie after seeing what a small but rabid fanbase it has. Anyhoo, this is the film where Christopher Reeve notices a old picture of a woman in a motel and decides to travel back in time so he can stalk Jane Seymour. Wow, I really hated this movie. Truly. Madly. Deeply. Christopher Reeve behaves like a utter lunatic through most of the film. I said to myself more than once, “This man is seriously disturbed.” Jane is pretty but dull. And what qualities does Chris possess that would make a woman like her fall for him? He’s polite, awkward and obviously pussywhipped. Weren’t old-timey stage actresses having affairs with rake-ish racecar drivers and impossibly wealthy barons and counts and whatnot? I think Ebert was right when he said that this whole movie is just so goddamn irritatingly solemn. Probably would’ve worked better as a comedy. Slightly better, anyway. Oh, and that tragic ending. I never knew the best laid plans of mice and men could go awry because of A PENNY FROM THE FUTURE, ZOMG!!!11 Chris’s reaction to this reminded me of Donald Sutherland’s last scene in _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_. And did you catch the titles of Chris’s “award-winning” plays? _Passionate Apathies?_ Oh, fuck you. I want to punch this movie in the cock. That being said, does this thing have any defenders on the Dope? ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/2 "2007-03-19T19:21:40Z")
I’ve considered renting this movie just because it was filmed on Mackinac Island, which I visited once. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/3 "2007-03-19T19:23:20Z")
I liked it a lot. This is a movie for people who have a big, blowsy streak of schmaltzy romanticism in their souls, not a movie for people who say things like “I want to punch this movie in the cock.” You want _Fight Club_? This ain’t it. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/4 "2007-03-19T19:24:00Z")
Not much to add to the overall sentiments of the OP. I saw it again recently to see how it had held up from 20 or so years earlier. My main reaction was that Reeve was that wooden in everything, including Superman. Not an actor. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/5 "2007-03-19T19:24:37Z")
If you look closely at the beginning, you’ll notice a really young William H Macy. Then you can turn it off. My favorite part: she gives him the pocketwatch in the future, then he gives it to her in the past. Ergo, the pocketwatch was never created. I can’t remember the term for this, but it’s pretty insulting to use it to score a cheap point. And Christopher Plummer has never had a more thankless role. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/6 "2007-03-19T19:28:25Z")
This movie makes no sense. Christopher Reeve gets knocked over the head with a two-by-four – and he fall unconscious??? The guy can withstand a rain of bullets, yet he gets taken out by a piece of wood? Hah! And if he wanted to travel back in time, why didn’t he just fly around the world like he used to? None of this stupid, schmaltzy self-hypnosis crap. And when Jane Seymour was taking his clothes off, why didn’t she notice his colorful tights? What was she, blind? Plotholes everywhere, folks. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/7 "2007-03-19T19:49:09Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] My favorite part: she gives him the pocketwatch in the future, then he gives it to her in the past. Ergo, the pocketwatch was never created. I can’t remember the term for this, but it’s pretty insulting to use it to score a cheap point. [/QUOTE] I won’t exactly say this has een driving me crazy, but it’s definitely been bugging me, **FOR A WHOLE QUARTER CENTURY!!!** ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/8 "2007-03-19T19:53:42Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] My favorite part: she gives him the pocketwatch in the future, then he gives it to her in the past. Ergo, the pocketwatch was never created. I can’t remember the term for this, but it’s pretty insulting to use it to score a cheap point. [/QUOTE] It’s a variation of the [grandfather paradox](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_paradox). I saw it at choir camp when I was about 13. I didn’t hate the film, and I didn’t like it. I wasn’t interested in punching it in the cock but it’s nothing I ever have to see again. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/9 "2007-03-19T20:04:37Z")
I kind of liked it when I first saw it; but then again, I was probably 13 years old and fascinated by time travel. And I had the hots for Jane Seymour. Now I’m pushing 40, recognize the plot holes, and have the hots for Jane Seymour. So everything is different. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/10 "2007-03-19T20:07:22Z")
Liked it at first. Hated it a couple years ago. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/11 "2007-03-19T20:13:44Z")
This movie’s popularization of Rachmaninoff’s musical glurge-fest, “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” is enough to make me want to punch it in the cock. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/12 "2007-03-19T20:27:02Z")
This was on cable a few months ago, and I hadn’t seen it since 1980, so I figgered I’d revisit. Worst. Movie. Ever. The only thing that could possibly improve it is if R. Kelly were to record a commentary track; that I’d watch. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/13 "2007-03-19T20:43:28Z")
I haven’t seen the movie, but anything that can spawn a catchphrase like “punch it in the cock”, it OK by me. That one line has me in tears and I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/14 "2007-03-19T21:29:16Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] I want to punch this movie in the cock. [/QUOTE] BWAHAHAHAHA! This is the most beautiful catchphrase I have read in eons. I must steal it and use it for my own hatings. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/15 "2007-03-19T21:35:54Z")
I kind of liked it. Could have been a bit more satisfying, could definitely have been better acted, but still, it’s an okay movie. > [@morbo](#): > > My favorite part: she gives him the pocketwatch in the future, then he gives it to her in the past. Ergo, the pocketwatch was never created. I can’t remember the term for this, but it’s pretty insulting to use it to score a cheap point. > [@Dr. Who](#): > > I’ll explain later. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/16 "2007-03-19T23:03:46Z")
It’s kind of enjoyable just for the scenery (the old-fashioned resort and Jane Seymour). But I’d really prefer to see a good movie version of Jack Finney’s _Time and Again_. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/17 "2007-03-19T23:09:36Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] It’s kind of enjoyable just for the scenery (the old-fashioned resort and Jane Seymour). But I’d really prefer to see a good movie version of Jack Finney’s _Time and Again_. [/QUOTE] Yes. That book is probably my favorite. But they’d probably screw it up. I am already worried about the film version of The Time Traveler’s Wife. I liked Somewhere In Time okay. I really like Jane Seymour. But as sappy as I can be, that film was a bit on the shmaltzy side even for me. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/18 "2007-03-19T23:15:36Z")
I wouldn’t call it a great movie, but it was a pleasant way to while away a couple of hours. I watched it a couple of years ago, for the first, and probably only time. I think I found it a little unsatisfying, and I’m not real keen on time travel stories in general, but not a horrible movie. ---
**Author:** ![2pelo\_honey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/ecb155/32.png) [@2pelo\_honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2pelo_honey)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/19 "2007-03-19T23:31:53Z")
I never thought it was a great movie, but I didn’t HATE it, although it’s been some years since I watched it. I’d classify it as something I could have on while laying around on a weekend, half watching, cuz nothing better was on. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615/20 "2007-03-20T00:04:41Z")
I never understood how the actress’ manager knew who Christopher Reeve’s character really was. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-in-time-1980-spoilers/396615.md?page=2)