About Time Movie Review

"For me it was always going to be about love."

-Tim

I was putting this movie off for quite sometime but I'm not really sure why! I had seen the previews all throughout last summer and was really looking forward to, even if it seemed like a cheesy romantic comedy. To be honest I have a soft spot for Rachel McAdams and usually end up watching her romance movies anyway, but that's besides the point. I was interested by the time travel aspect of the film cause there is nothing about it that makes you feel like you're watching a sci-fi movie. The film was directed by Richard Curtis and starred Domhnall Gleeson as Tim, Rachel McAdams as Mary, and Bill Nighy as Tim's dad.

We're introduced to Tim, a young man living in Cornwall England, with his mother, father, uncle, and sister Kit Kat. Tim narrates the story and walks us through his life in this beautiful beach house that he's lived in all his life. It's such a tight and loving family and in just a few clips you can see how much they care for each other.You instantly become comfortable with them and seem to know so much about Tim even though you just met him. So once he turns 21 his father lets him in on a family secret. All the men in their family have the ability to travel back in time. Not to the future nor anywhere they haven't been before, only to a previous point in their lives. The way to do this is to go into a dark place, usually a closet, clench their fists and think of a specific time in the past. Although it sounds silly it doesn't feel as ridiculous when you're watching it.

After warning Tim to not travel back in time for fame or fortune, Tim decides to use his new-found abilities to find a nice girlfriend. But it's not as easy as you would think. As we find out early in the film no amount of time travel will make someone love you if they don't really love you. This hard lesson was taught to him by Charlotte, played by Margot Robbie, who I was very pleasantly surprised to see in this film after her great performance in The Wolf of Wall Street. Tim finally decides to move out of Cornwall to London where he begins to practice law and live his life outside of the beautiful beach house. Then comes along Mary, a beautiful and smart girl who he hits it off with right away. But in attempt to save his new friends career he travels back in time and misses his date with her. Convinced that she was possibly the love of his life he tracks her down, and after a bunch of awkward attempts and trial and error, he gets the girl and starts the relationship.

What I truly loved about this film was that it did not only concentrate on the love between a man and a women, but with a man and his father and a man with his family. There are such sincere moments between Tim and his dad, especially towards the close of the film, that will just melt your heart and put a fat lump in your throat. Despite the traveling back and forth in time there are some very real messages that About Time hit home for me. Not that I didn't before but it's movies like this that make me appreciate my father so much more while he's still in my life, and that life really is precious. I thought that the balance of humor and drama was done fantastically and really enjoyed the full two hours of this film. I also don't mean to make the relationship between Tim and Mary less important, because the chemistry between these two were great, and it was nice to see them grow and change over the years. About Time wasn't a hit with the critics but I will choose to disagree. It is such a feel-good movie that you won't regret giving it a shot. I give it a 7.5 out of 10.