Tagline: “A new funny film about love. With a bit of time travel.”
About Time brings its audience a new take on the romantic concept of a relationship affected by the consequences of time-travel. The movie stars Rachel McAdams, who has played in a film with a similar plot idea before (The Time Traveler’s Wife, 2009) opposite Domhnall Gleeson and iconic Golden Globe-winning British actor Bill Nighy. Director Richard Curtis – producer of Love Actually, Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral – all classic British romances, promises his latest motion picture to be sweet, funny, witty and brilliant.
It certainly ticked all of these boxes for me. I have been looking forward to see this film since I saw its trailer back in May – it didn’t disappoint me one bit! The wait has been totally worth it, and I must say it surprised me in a very pleasant way. It’s not one of the typical soppy Hollywood love films at all. The plot keeps you interested throughout and it explores family as a theme in great depth. It presents life just as it is, with its ups and downs. And adds just a bit of supernatural powers to it.
Tim (Gleeson) is told by his father (Nighy) on the day of his 21st birthday that the men in their family have the ability to travel in time, which he takes, naturally, as a joke. Until he tries doing this and succeeds, that is. As time passes he experiments with his newfound power and learns how to use it to his advantage, as well as assuming responsibility for the consequences involved in time travel due to redoing past events with a different outcome.
He moves to London to pursue a career as a lawyer where he meets Mary (McAdams), and falls in love with her almost instantly. They move in together, get married, have children and get by in life as best as they can, while Tim still makes the most of his unusual ability to fix things both in his life and those of the ones he loves.
However, he soon realises that things are never as easy as they seem and that time travelling comes with a catch. Tim learns that he must sacrifice some aspects of his life in order to maintain balance in others. With an excellent soundtrack featuring Ellie Goulding, Amy Winehouse, The Killers, Nick Cave, The Cure and many others, About Time might just be the number one rom-com-drama of the year.
Peppered with funny moments and classic British humour, as well as a clever plot, it is definitely suitable for any audience. As much as you’d expect it to be a cheesy romance, I can guarantee this film will end up surprising you. So go ahead and make the most of your viewing experience and go see it on the big silver screen before it’s too late – I promise you won’t regret it.