Richard Collier (Christopher Reeve) is approached at his party by an unknown old lady who asks him to "Come back to me" and leaves him a pocket watch. Years later, he returns to the same hotel and discovers that she's Elise McKenna (Jane Seymour), a famous stage actress from long ago. He finds some of her effects including a book from Dr. Gerard Finney about self-hypnosis time travel. After much effort, he travels back to 1912 and tracks down Elise. They have an electric connection as her manager William Robinson (Christopher Plummer) tries to keep them apart.
It's a romance but Reeve and Seymour are not together for most of the movie. It takes almost half of the movie before the two actors actually have a scene together. It's a very long build and I'm not convinced why he's so taken with her. It's almost a given as love at first sight for both characters without much explanation. I guess they are star-crossed lovers but the characters are a little older than Romeo and Juliet. Reeve with his leading man looks easily keeps the time-traveling romance humming. Seymour is lovely. Plummer is a fine villain. The drama is never very thrilling. It has a sweet poignant melodramatic sentimentality which serves it well in the end.
It's a romance but Reeve and Seymour are not together for most of the movie. It takes almost half of the movie before the two actors actually have a scene together. It's a very long build and I'm not convinced why he's so taken with her. It's almost a given as love at first sight for both characters without much explanation. I guess they are star-crossed lovers but the characters are a little older than Romeo and Juliet. Reeve with his leading man looks easily keeps the time-traveling romance humming. Seymour is lovely. Plummer is a fine villain. The drama is never very thrilling. It has a sweet poignant melodramatic sentimentality which serves it well in the end.