I so wanted to like this. I have to admit I enjoy everything Benedict Cumberbatch does and I thought he was excellent in it. The loss of the daughter was dealt with fairly briefly and the story did not dwell on the immediate loss for long. One was soon aware that some time had passed - but not indicated very clearly - I guessed five years, but I think it turned out to be three. The marriage had broken up, which was understandable in many ways and he was trying to continue with normal life though still "haunted" by visions of his daughter, which at one point began to seem like a credible sighting. Less easy to follow was the Parliamentary committee link and his friend Charles who undergoes a drastic and painful nervous breakdown - one just wondered why the character and his wife were brought in. NOT having read the book, I was unaware that Charles's wife was a scientist doing some sort of research into Time and Relativity. Perhaps if that had been made clear I'd have been less puzzled by the seaside pub scenes. I had NO idea even up to the end that the young woman IN the pub was supposed to be his own mother, when younger, seeing a vision of him! I'd thought it was his wife as a teenager. And the "vision" of a young boy smiling at him on the Tube - again a total puzzle. I could have done with a little more "signposting" as to when things were occurring - two weeks, three months, four years etc And the visions could have had a more misty quality, a draining or an enhancing of colour for instance. Yes, I know, very clichéd, but it would have helped an otherwise bewildering story. One could never quite grasp where it was going or why. However, that is not to criticise the performances - I thought the actors were ALL excellent and believable in character - particularly the repressed and edgy Charles. It's just some of the events (you do NOT just walk into a school and talk to a child unchallenged!) and the lack of corroborative detail, made it a "bald and unconvincing narrative"!
Review of The Child in Time
