Ray Bradbury's Faustian fable is, on the one hand, a little conventional in imagination, and, on the other, a little flighty. That first hand is best exemplified by the Booth Tarkington setting of the tale, and the second hand by the diabolical travelling carnival that starts the tale in motion. There are a few good points in between, the best being the time-machine merry-go-round, which either accelerates or reverses the aging process, depending on whether the horses go forwards or backwards. But apart from that contraption, the agencies and capacities of evildoing are never defined to such degree that we can knowledgeably follow the action. What works against all the conceptual problems, however, and what largely though not thoroughly defeats them, is the stylistic assurance that director Jack Clayton brings to the storytelling. What matters, finally, is the telling and not the story being told. The events, as weakly linked as they are in logic, are so solidly dovetailed in visual terms that they attain the kind of spellbinding power which Bradbury is always striving for in his "poetic" prose, but which, for all the reasons "poetic" belongs in quotes, he is always short-circuiting. Clayton gives you craftsmanship raised almost to the level of witchcraft. Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce. (1983) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.