About Time ~ Film Review

'About Time' was released in August 2013 and just like many of his other films, such as 'War-horse' and 'Love Actually', Richard Curtis has directed, yet again, another OUTSTANDING film and I have a feeling this romantic comedy will be hard to top.

When Rachel McAdams is involved (Mary) it’s hard to imagine a disappointing film, especially with her track record of ‘Mean Girls’, ‘The Vow’ and ‘The Notebook’.  I was definitely eager to watch her latest movie and I have no hesitation in saying that it did NOT disappoint. Tim (Domhall Gleeson) is a very awkward English red-head, who comes from a tight-knit family.  On his 21st birthday his father (Bill Nighty), reveals to him that every man in the family can, in fact, travel back in time…but only to a place where they have been before.

Tim initially uses this new found power for re-living that embarrassing time he chickened out of a New Year’s kiss and the time he knocked drinks over some girls at a party; however, soon enough, he uses it for love. Tim finds the girl of his dreams on a blind date...literally, however due to his lack of understanding of this revelation, it proves to be harder than anticipated. Even though there are patterns throughout the film, in the decisions Tim makes, he faces obstacles and moral dilemma's that no ordinary man would - but what is special, is watching Tim's new found emotions develop and the life lessons we see him learn and act on, no matter how tough they may be.

The main focus of this film is the beautiful flourishing relationship of Tim and Mary, however the real underlying focus, that pulls at the deepest of heartstrings, is the special father-son relationship through which Richard Curtis shows us just how exceptional life can be, if we just look at it from a different perspective.

The direction of this film is very clever, there is so much more to it than being ‘just another romantic comedy’. Curtis was very on-point in his technique. He turned the stereotypical view of a romantic comedy on its head, making it incredibly moving, relevant, applicable and refreshing to watch. 

Personally, going into the cinema I expected to see nothing more than a story about two people falling in love with a few jokes along the way - but, through his direction, script writing and production, Richard managed to deliver such an immensely powerful message showing us that we're all too busy living and stressing in this life that we miss the real beauty of what's around us, our jobs and most importantly, our loved ones. He shows us that we are lucky, lucky for all of life's quirks and treasures that  usually go unnoticed, lucky for the power of love in all its forms and lucky for the past memories that will forever stay with us and for the future ones that we can continue to make until life takes us from our own - and so the beautiful cycle of life continues.

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Verdict:

This film really does take you on a journey, from start to finish you will be hooked and the end is nothing but flawless. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. Its a completely different take on what you would expect a romantic comedy to be, it really is a film not to be missed.

☆☆☆☆☆ 

“We’re all traveling through time together, every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride”