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Craig — If you could do anything over again, would you? Spend more time with family members, work harder on your career, not waste your money on "The Time Traveler's Wife?"

That last suggestion seems especially wise.

Henry (Eric Bana) never seems to have enough time to do what he wants. This is mainly because of a problem he's had since childhood, which involves involuntary jumps through time.

He has long since learned to deal with the unpredictability of these journeys, but his life is devoid of intimacy as a result.

He finally finds someone who understands him when he meets Clare (Rachel McAdams), who claims to have known him her entire life.

As it turns out, in the future, he will jump to the past to meet her as a child (Brooklyn Proulx). Clare is so deeply in love with him that she doesn't have to think twice when he proposes. But being married to Henry entails always being prepared for the worst, as he disappears without warning, sometimes not returning for weeks at a time.

Sometimes barely breathing.

Bana takes his role in stride, nicely showing Henry's constant frustration, evaporating during some of the most important moments of his life, including his own wedding. The running gag involving him losing his clothes during each jump gets a bit old, but quick glimpses of his bare butt gives the female viewers a nice bit of eye candy.

McAdams has a much more difficult part to play, and the strain shows. Knowing Henry longer than he knows her, Clare's acceptance of her unique relationship is crucial, and McAdams doesn't seem up to the task of being so mature, coming off as pouty at best and petulant at worst when she comes across strife.

Michelle Nolden is particularly lovely as Henry's late mother, whom he comes across on his special travels, only to lose her again and again, the source of much animosity between him and his father (Arliss Howard).

The dynamics between the characters is the key point here, and when the story sticks to that, it works fairly well.

The romance of Henry and Clare is sweet at times, as they try to make the most of their time together, and the love feels strong in this adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's novel.

Unfortunately, when it comes time to get down to the nitty-gritty scientific explanations of Henry's predicament, there just aren't enough hours in the day to work out the inconsistencies. If "Quantum Leap" and "Back to the Future" have taught us anything, time travel is a nasty business when done improperly.

With a storyline plotted in a linear style according to the protagonist, Henry often encounters himself when he jumps, either a few years younger or older. You can tell which by the length and shade of his hair. Forget about paradoxes and all the technical terminology - the way he can compare notes across various timelines takes all the mystery out of the story for everybody. A long-winded rationalization by a geneticist (Stephen Tobolowsky) involving the term "chrono-impairment" is much less satisfying than it should be, functioning only as a way to tie up loose ends.

The thing to note here is that rather than focusing on the big questions - What triggered Henry's condition? How far in time can he travel? Is this some kind of evolutionary breakthrough for the human race? - Bruce Joel Rubin's screenplay is content to keep everything on a simplistic level, downplaying an inherently thoughtful, clever story.

The most bothersome detail of "The Time Traveler's Wife" is that it could be something of substance, and it indeed starts out that way.

But sadly, everything soon becomes as transparent and wispy as Henry's body just as he's about to fade out.

And : poof.