In my reading experience Timeline is one of my favorite books, the story is great. You'd never know that if you watched the movie. The only thing I like in this movie better than the book is the time machine, it looks pretty cool but the rest is horrible. I could guarantee you I, myself, in my limited acting experience could portray any of those characters, even the female leads better than how the actors portrayed them. And although the time machine looks pretty cool the time travel sequence is horribly lackluster to the special effects it deserves. DON'T BUY IT. DON'T EVEN RENT IT. Ladies, if you want to see Paul Walker in a film rent Varsity Blues.