About Time (***)
Directed
by: Richard Curtis
Starring:
Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Lydia Wilson, Lindsay Duncan, Tom
Hollander, Vanessa Kirby, Margot Robbie, Tom Hughes, Catherine Steadman
Seen:
November 29th 2013
***
Out of ****
Richard
Curtis has made some very good movies in his career, including Four Weddings
and a Funeral and The Bridget Jones movies as writer, and Love Actually as
writer/director. He has an innate feeling for somehow and somewhere connecting
with the viewer’s heart. In About Time he manages to do just that again, even though
the movie does lose a bit of steam now and then in the quieter moments. When
the movie hits its stride though, there is a raw power at work that will undoubtedly
draw the viewer in, in those moments this movie is a triumph.
When
he turns 21, Tim Lake (Gleeson) is taken aside by his father James (Nighy) and
told of a strange ability the men in his family possess – they can travel in
time to a previous point in their own life; by simply going somewhere dark
(like a closet) and focussing on that time. Tim, who has always been relatively
awkward with the ladies, decides almost immediately that he will use this power
of his to assist him in getting a girlfriend – by way of constantly going back
and fixing the errors he keeps making. On a summer holiday Tim falls for a
family friend, Charlotte (Robbie), and tries all he can to get her, only to
realise time travel will not help him with this one.
He
goes on with his life, moving to London and becoming a lawyer, always conscious
of his ability. One night he goes on a blind date where he meets Mary (McAdams),
and he falls for her practically instantly, he even gets her number. But he
uses his travelling ability to help his flatmate Harry (Hollander), and in the
process loses Mary’s number, as he travelled to before then and lived a separate
string of events. He does manage to locate Mary though, and through a long
series of events he manages to finally get her to go on a date with him, and
the two kick off something amazing. The movie goes on to show the lessons Tim
learns from his time travelling capabilities, and the ultimate lesson in the
movie is a beautiful reminder/admonition for all of us, live your life NOW…
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