About Time
Director: Richard Curtus
Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy
Length: 123 minutes
Country: UK
Richard Curtis’s much-anticipated lastest offering About Time was everything I wanted from the renowned writer of Love Actually and Notting Hill. It was cheesy, cringeworthy and full of clichés about quintessential British families, but god does that man know how to make me cry.
The film’s story doesn’t fit the bill of the everyday run-of-the-mill romantic comedy since it has the element of time travel to add both conflict and comedy to the narrative (a curious change for the usually realist Curtis who may have picked up some tips from his stint writing for Doctor Who in 2010). The film focuses on the life of Tim Lake, portrayed brilliantly by Domhnall Gleeson, who learns from his father (Bill Nighy) that the men in the family have always had the ability to go back in time. Now science fiction fans will have to just go with Curtis’s version of time travel and accept it for what it is because there are times when it doesn’t make sense even to me. But I’m happy to just let it be an added plot twist that enables Curtis to illustrate the precious nature of time. So the hapless young chap Tim chooses to use his newly acquired skill to help him on his pursuit of love. His special clenching of the fists and going into a darkened room trick allows him to relive scenes in his life and make changes so that the ever so smiley Rachel McAdams will fall madly in love with him.
The love story at the centre of the narrative is acted well and is pleasing to the viewer but isn’t enough to sustain the film. The relationship that steals the show is that between Nighy and Gleeson – the two actors seem to truly embrace the role of father and son and their comradery, playfulness and tender emotions brought me into nostalgic reverie about my own relationship with my dad. All of these scenes coupled with one particular moment on a beach will tug on your heartstrings and bring tears to your eyes.
The relationship that steals the show is that between Nighy and Gleeson – the two actors seem to truly embrace the role of father and son
The film, though predominantly set in London, also features the idyllic Cornwall coast, which helps to create a picture postcard of the perfect family home and also to continue Curtis’s quest to envision the most English landscape he can muster. Watching Curtis talk about his film, he mentions wanting to focus on the story after ‘the big kiss’; to enter into the world of family and the realities of time. This film definitely achieves that but not necessarily with much poignancy, and there are times when you can tell this is Curtis’s swan song.
A bugbear I have with Curtis’s films in general are his female characters and this film in particular seems to pigeon hole women into certain stereotypes that irk me; we have the emotional restrained mother, the oddball sister and the girl next door American love interest. Now the three actresses Lindsey Duncan, Lydia Wilson and Rachel McAdams play their somewhat limited and two-dimensional roles really well and it saves the film from being merely about male relationships and the women that stand next to them. However, I can’t help feeling that Curtis was more interested in developing the father-son bond than any other relationship. This is fine and makes for an enjoyable film except its McAdams and Gleeson’s faces plastered over every bus and at times their story lacks conviction.
Overall, About Time is everything you expect it to be and is well worth watching if only for Tom Hollander’s brilliant portrayal of the failing playwright. The film goes far to achieve its final point about the fragility of time and the importance of living and loving in the moment. About Time has been rumoured to be Curtis’s final film as a director but I have inkling that he will be penning the love stories we build our lives and expectations on for years to come.
Comments