Review 272: About Time

About Time is an extraordinary romantic, sci fi film about love with a little bit of time travel thrown on top and a film that demonstrates Richard Curtis's writing prowes.

At the age of 21, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) discovers he can travel in time... The night after another unsatisfactory New Year party, Tim's father (Bill Nighy) tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. Tim can't change history, but he can change what happens and has happened in his own life-so he decides to make his world a better place...by getting a girlfriend. Sadly, that turns out not to be as easy as you might think. Moving from the Cornwall coast to London to train as a lawyer, Tim finally meets the beautiful but insecure Mary (Rachel McAdams). They fall in love, then an unfortunate time-travel incident means he's never met her at all. So they meet for the first time again-and again-but finally, after a lot of cunning time-traveling, he wins her heart. Tim then uses his power to create the perfect romantic proposal, to save his wedding from the worst best-man speeches, to save his best friend from professional disaster and to get his pregnant wife to the hospital in time for the birth of their daughter, despite a nasty traffic jam outside Abbey Road. But as his unusual life progresses, Tim finds out that his unique gift can't save him from the sorrows and ups and downs that affect all families, everywhere. There are great limits to what time travel can achieve, and it can be dangerous too.

The plot is terrific, it's lacks the whimsy and lightheartedness of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones and Love Actually but what replaces it is more concept and it shows that he is a serious writer and retains his reputation as Britain's best rom com writer.

The way About Time is more conceptual than Curtis's previous films is that it adds time travel to the love story which makes for a richer, more complex story. Not only is it a story about going back in time to address the mistakes of the past, it's a story about love, family and regret.

So how do these themes play in About Time you may ask?

Love: The whole film revolves Tim's romance with Mary and what lengths he will go to get her and make it perfect.

Family: The film is also about Tim's relationship with his dad (Bill Nighy) and what advice Tim takes from his father as he travels in time.

Regret: The film asks the question: Is regret useful? Should you try to change the past? Some people might see regret as a learning lesson whereas other might want to go back and change the past. It's also about savering the present moment, living in the moment and trying to live life without ambition. We, as normal people go, through our lives but sometimes we waste our lives because we worry about little things and because we're constantly ambitious and because we can't move on from past mistakes and we keep thinking "ooh we should have done this, ooh we should have done that and we waste our lives when should be doing things that matter to us and About Time is explores that idea beautifully.

Richard Curtis' direction is precise, the cinematography is brilliant, the soundtrack is terrific, the production design is immaculate, the costumes are wonderful, the effects for when Tim goes back in time are really impressive, the humor is really touching and the ending was superb.

The acting is superb, Domhnall Gleeson is really sympathetic as Tim, he's a young man whom when he's first introduced to time travel starts to exploit it for his own personal gain but the film goes on he learns how to enjoy life more. It's such an incredible journey he goes.

Rachel McAdams is luminous and lovely as Mary, she maybe oblivious to Tim's time traveling trick but she loves and the love her and Tim is really touching. We grow to care about our two characters and hope they'll make it in the end.

Bill Nighy once again proves how wonderful an actor he is in the role of Tim's father, he acts as the voice of reason to Tim and their relationship like Tim's relationship with Mary is very strong.

Other cast members who stand out are Lindsey Duncan as Tim's mum, Lydia Wilson as Kit, Tim's sister, Richard Cordery as Uncle Desmond and Tom Hollender as Harry, Tim's roomate. Also the rest of the cast is terrific.

About Time is a really touching sci fi rom com and if this is Richard Curtis' final film, it sure is a great one to end on, 5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.