ABOUT TIME
review by
ANIZ FILMVALA
*****
STORY.
At the age of 21, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) discovers he can travel in time. Tim's father (Bill Nighy) tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. Upon learning this, Tim goes back to the night of a recent New Year's Eve party where at midnight he was too shy to kiss someone and goes for the kiss instead.
The following summer his sister's friend comes to stay with the family. Tim has an instant attraction and come the end of her stay, decides to tell her. She tells him that he left it too late to do anything about, and so Tim travels back to the middle of the summer and tells her earlier. This time, she says that they should wait until the end of the summer and talk again. Tim realizes she doesn't like him back and that time travel will not be able to help change her mind. He watches her leave, heartbroken.
Later Tim decides to move to London to pursue a career as a lawyer. He moves in with an acquaintance of his father, Harry, who is a struggling playwright. After some months living in London, Tim's friend comes down to visit and they visit a blind dating establishment on a night out, where Tim meets Mary (Rachel McAdams). They seem to be attracted to each other, and outside when Tim gets to see her he falls in love. He gets her phone number and returns home to find out Harry's plays opening night was a disaster as the lead actor forgot his lines. Tim then goes back in time and attends the play and after many complications eventually ensures the play is a success. Later, Tim attempts to call Mary only to find her number is not in his phone. He realizes that by going to the play instead of the blind date means he never met Mary. Remembering something from the date, Tim eventually locates Mary and learns that she has a boyfriend (met after the night of the play). Tim decides to go back to the point where she met her boyfriend and ensures she never meets him and instead goes out on a date with him. They eventually become a couple, and after a few months they decide to marry as they learn Mary is pregnant with Tim's child. Years pass and Tim sparingly uses time travel to help alter minor details of his life to benefit himself.
On the 1st birthday of Mary and Tim's daughter, Tim's sister crashes her car after a row with her boyfriend Jimmy, who has been nothing but bad news for her since they met at the New Year's Eve party Tim first travelled back to. Tim, deciding it best she never met him, takes her back to the party and makes sure they indeed never met, but upon returning to present time finds the butterfly effect means that Tim never had Posy. Instead another child was born in her place, after speaking to his Father he learns that once his child was born travelling back to a time before the childs birth will in fact stop that child from ever being born as time will happen differently in every aspect of his life. And so Tim reluctantly has to watch his sister go through the pain of breaking up with her boyfriend to ensure Posy is born. Tim's sister and friend become a couple and eventually have a child together. More time passes and Tim has another child with Mary.
One day, Tim learns that his father has terminal cancer, and learns that this is also something time travel cannot change. Tim learns his father has known for quite some time but kept travelling back in time to effectively extended his life and spend more time with his family, but is now ready to die. Eventually his father dies, however Tim keeps travelling back into the past (when his father was still alive) so that he may see and speak to him. Eventually Mary says she wants another child. Tim also wants another but knows doing so means he won't be able to visit his father in the past again (as like before travelling back beyond the birth of his child would change the child born). After speaking with his Father he decides it is the right thing to do. He still visits his dad for the next 9 months but eventually the time comes when Mary is ready to give birth, and so Tim goes to visit his father one last time and let's him know this is the last time he will visit him. They then both travel back in time together when Tim was a small boy and relive a fond memory of them playing on the beach. Before Tim travels back to the present, his father tells him to re-live each day, once with all the stresses as a normal person faces, the second knowing what to expect from the day, and to embrace it and enjoy the day for exactly what it is. Tim does this for some time but then comes to realise that it is better to live each day once, as if it was his last, and to just try and enjoy his life with his family like everyone else does. The film ends with Tim getting his 3 children ready for school.
CRITIC VIEW.
Directed by Richard Curtis ‘About Time’ is a light hearted romcom but fails to ignite the emotion as it confuses between the actual present and take 2 concept of the plot.
The film has a appeal of cloying or excessively sentimental feelings of to find a substitute for something,as it is not liked as the destiny is the idea of this Romantic fantasy .
Unsuccessful in trying to do something and then exploit the present with the Time travel was a perception of a suspenseful thriller film which is made into a calculated appeal to portray a British drama.
Things to see in this melodrama is it's the kindhearted correlation involving father and son stands out as a film's true·ness in a love story and beyond.
Richard Curtis's time-travelling endeavor valor at places but also has its moments of having the qualities and value claimed to relationship.
About cast Domhnall Gleeson as Tim Lake and his father Bill Nighy have played relatively normal role not toting up to their acting ability to do something well.
Watch the movie for it’s beautiful look of its seaside estates and its shower-drenched weddings,that’s what you get for the price of your ticket.
CAST.
Directed by Richard Curtis
Produced by Tim Beva,Eric Fellne, Nicky Kentish Barnes
Written by Richard Curtis
Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams,Bill Nighy,Tom Hollander,Margot Robbie
Music by Nick Laird-Clowes
Cinematography John Guleserian
Editing by Mark Day
Studio Working Title Films,Relativity Media
Distributed by Universal Pictures