Directing aside, Richard Curtis is certainly one of the finest writers to work on the small and big screen. Along with Ben Elton, Curtis is behind arguably one of the wittiest and funniest series to emerge from British television, the wonderful Blackadder. On top of that, his writing was an intricate part of the success, and longevity, of Mr. Bean.
However, Curtis really hit the jackpot with the phenomenon that was Four Weddings and a Funeral. Launching the career of the attractively awkward Hugh Grant, Four Weddings followed the lives, and loves, of a group of a friends through, quite obviously, four weddings and an extremely upsetting funeral (that John Hannah speech, please no more). Curtis was on to a winner, beginning with a uniquely British but heartwarming comedy, the team behind Four Weddings were suddenly on to a winning formula. The project was followed with his work on the massively successful Bridget Jones’s Diary and then came Love Actually.
Although Love Actually should have been one of those films that disappeared out of cinema screens within a couple of weeks and forced into a bargain bin, it began to take on a cult status, perhaps mainly due to its Christmas theme. As well as this, one thing became incredibly clear, Curtis was a genius at writing about love, all-consuming love that would affect every part of his character’s lives. Think of the wonderful scene with the messages on the board at the doorway, the teenager who runs through the airport to tell “the one” that he loves her, the lonely husband who loses his wife, the wife who dismisses the fact that her husband may be cheating on her to put her family first, Curtis hit all the right notes. Fair enough, it’s unlikely the Prime Minister would knock on every door on a street to find his love interest, but how wonderful would it be if he did?
About Time builds on these wonderful beginnings. Telling the story of the absolutely adorable Tim played by our very own Domhnall Gleeson, who finds out from his equally adorable father (Bill Nighy) that he is able to travel back in time, we are introduced to a young man who is desperate to find a girlfriend. With this new revelation, he decides to put his gift to good use, helping out his friends and family, but mainly to track down the beautiful Mary (Rachel McAdams) who he randomly meets on a night out.
Although he does use time travel initially to help ask Mary out, it is his own exceptionally nice nature that manages to keep her. The film follows the couple’s lives through their ups and downs, marriage, the birth of their children and problems in their family. About Time moves along at an easy pace, not really pulling too many punches, but this isn’t a complaint; the film is exceptionally easy and nice to watch.
What keeps the entire affair together is the performances from the leads, Domhnall Gleeson and Rachel McAdams, equally sweet, their chemistry jumps off the screen. You will fall in love with not only Domhnall’s Tim but also McAdam’s Mary. Although it can come across in parts as sickly sweet at times, their romance is a welcome break from onscreen rom-coms with unbelievable relationships or couples whose relationships are falling apart. The pair just seem entirely normal.
It could be argued that the time travel element is certainly not normal, the plot device mainly exists in the background; it doesn’t necessarily have a massive impact on the couple’s lives. In fact, one important moment in the film shows that a trip to the past has affected the future somewhat and Tim goes back to correct the problem. Yes, it affords an opportunity for Tim and his father to deal with incidents in their lives in a much easier way, but it never corrupts them, or indeed the film itself.
There are moments in this film that will speak to you in ways you didn’t think possible from a Richard Curtis film, the wonder of true love, the joy of a new life and inevitable heartbreak which occurs in everyone’s lives. When the big blow occurs, it is not something that is inconceivable, rather it is something that could happen to anyone, therefore making it all the more touching and upsetting.
One cannot end a review about About Time without mentioning Bill Nighy who makes it so incredibly easy to cry uncontrollably in a packed cinema screen.
If there was one complaint, it would perhaps be that we are again returned to that quirky kind of life on the big screen that is a little exhausting; an idyllic life in Cornwall with chunky patterned cardigans has been used before in some way or another many times before but this is easily overlooked.
About Time will most certainly stand the test of time, a romantic masterpiece and probably one of our favourites from this year.
