Genre
Drama | Fantasy | Romance
Director
Richard Curtis
Country
UK
Cast
Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander, Lindsay Duncan, Margot Robbie, Lydia Wilson, Richard Cordery, Joshua McGuire, Tom Hughes, Vanessa Kirby, Will Merrick, Lisa Eichhorn
Storyline
At the age of 21, Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life, and uses this ability to change several situations of his life.
Opinion
I wonder if Richard Curtis could travel in time would still make this film, because if I were him, I wouldn't. He is an expert when it comes to romantic films ("Love Actually", "Notting Hill") but this time not everything goes in the right way, and that can be easily seen in "About Time", an embarrassingly clichéd chick flick for men.
The banal and simplistic story about a common life in a common world really doesn't have anything to stand out from the crowd, and throwing in some time traveling doesn't help either. There really is nothing involving about the plot, the character development is basically nonexistent and there is no character to care about.
Probably acknowledging the film's emotional flatness, they decided to throw in cancer as a device to move and make people cry. This is not addressed to the public only, but to the film's characters as well. Tim's mother, for example, a flat, underdeveloped character, all of a sudden cares about her husband. Still, like me, she doesn't manage to express emotions.
Anyway, other than showing a person that wants to have a perfect life and uses his time-traveling powers to alterate every experience he has so that his life is actually perfect, the film kind of have something to teach. It doesn't concern with the physics or philosophy surrounding time travel, but teaches to let go of things, to accept life as it is and to enjoy it.
Another good thing about the film is the cast. Domhnall Gleeson gives a fine performance as leading man Tim, Rachel McAdams is also good as his wife Mary - after all she kind of belongs to this kind of films - and Bill Nighy does a good job as Tim's father. I doubt they could have done better with this poor material.
The banal and simplistic story about a common life in a common world really doesn't have anything to stand out from the crowd, and throwing in some time traveling doesn't help either. There really is nothing involving about the plot, the character development is basically nonexistent and there is no character to care about.Probably acknowledging the film's emotional flatness, they decided to throw in cancer as a device to move and make people cry. This is not addressed to the public only, but to the film's characters as well. Tim's mother, for example, a flat, underdeveloped character, all of a sudden cares about her husband. Still, like me, she doesn't manage to express emotions.
Anyway, other than showing a person that wants to have a perfect life and uses his time-traveling powers to alterate every experience he has so that his life is actually perfect, the film kind of have something to teach. It doesn't concern with the physics or philosophy surrounding time travel, but teaches to let go of things, to accept life as it is and to enjoy it.
Another good thing about the film is the cast. Domhnall Gleeson gives a fine performance as leading man Tim, Rachel McAdams is also good as his wife Mary - after all she kind of belongs to this kind of films - and Bill Nighy does a good job as Tim's father. I doubt they could have done better with this poor material.
Hmmm-interesting. I bet so much could be done about a film like this...the possibilities are endless in my mind. I love Bill Nighy-one of my favourite actors
ReplyDeleteIf you love Nighy, then you should give the film a try. He pulls off a good performance and it's worth checking it out.
DeleteI like the romantic movies a lot and i like Channing! But I just dont like this romantic movie! I dont know why!
ReplyDeleteI guess it really is that bad then.
Delete