About Time, is a charming and funny film, that must be added to any romantic’s list. With a stellar cast, and well written story, About Time is a film that gets it right.
About Time tells the story of Tim, a young man, who on his 21st birthday, discovers he can travel back in time by going into a small, dark space and clenching his fists. After using the gift, for many trivial matters, Tim eventually finds a greater calling, to change the past for the better.
The first thing to note about this film, is that there is no sense of awkwardness that you would come to expect from other time travel films. Unlike The Time Travellers Wife, Tim has the ability to control his time travel, and does so, without the knowledge of those around him.
The cast for this film, could not have been picked more perfectly. Bill Nighy, as always is great in his role, but it is newcomer Domhnall Gleeson, that truly shines on-screen. He is perfect for the lanky out of luck man he plays, and his comedic timing is perfect. Not only that, but his range of emotions is very believable. Rachel McAdams, is perfect as his opposite, and true love Mary, who is plays a role different to any she has before. It is nice to see her has a plain simple girl, with a quirky sense of fashion and insecurities, in fact, it is one of the few films, that features, what many would consider ‘real people’. The lead characters, are not in fact incredibly gorgeous. They are more charming, and represent your everyday person.
Of course, the movie does come with flaws, and if you have not yet seen this film, I advise you not to ready on. When Tim first learns that he can travel in time, his dad explains that there are 3 simple rules.
1. Only men can travel back in time
2.You can only travel back in time, not forwards
3. You can only travel to moments in time where you a present.
These rules are broken several times in the film, particularly when Tim, takes his sister back in time, to fix her life, after a car crash. Nowhere, does it state that you can travel back in time with someone else. Subsequently, this leads Tim to change the future, thus changing his much-loved daughter Posey, to a boy, meaning Tim travels back again, so that his sister is once again in a car crash. It is then explained that one cannot travel back in time before a child’s birth, as the events that lead to the birth, lead to the child. This seems to be ignored when both Tim and his father travel back in time to relive a childhood memory of Tim’s, but this does not change the birth of his children. It is for these minor flaws, that mean that the film is not perfect.
Regardless if this, About Time, is a great romantic comedy, and for this, I give it an 8/10.
Lights, Camera, Action 