Friday, March 14, 2014
About Time (2013)
Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy,
Lydia Wilson, Lindsay Duncan, Richard Cordery, Joshua McGuire, Tom Hollander,
Margot Robbie, Will Merrick, Vanessa Kirby, Tom Hughes
Director: Richard Curtis
Synopsis: Domhnall Gleeson as Tim is an awkward 21 year old
who cannot seem to find love. His father
sits him down one morning after their traditional New Years Eve party and tells
him that the men in his family can time travel once they reach the age of
21. Tim uses time travel to find true
love with Mary (Rachel McAdams) but soon discovers that time travel is not as
simple as he originally thought.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4/5 Reels
Review:
About
Time is a refreshing and certainly unique love
story. This is not the typical love
story when someone plays hard to get, the family doesn’t approve, the pursuit
of career gets in the way, or any of the storylines we’ve seen many times in
the past. While he may not be Ryan
Gosling, Domhnall embraces his role as Tim and creates an endearing character
as he journeys out of his comfort zone to find love. Tim has this unique ability, a strong family,
and genuine heart.
One of the best aspects of this film is
the dynamic of his family. Tim’s father
is a fiery old man that curses freely, has no problem with beating his children
in a game of ping pong, and spends a lot of time with his family. Mary, Tim’s mother, has a serious demeanor,
takes no pleasure in extravagant or unnecessary things, and spends her time
gardening. Tim’s sister Kit Kat is a strange and bold character. She is always wearing purple and never wears
shoes. Kit Kat marches to the beat of her own drum and her quirky personality
is also one that draws the attention of the viewer and one cannot help but find
it endearing. This family stands
together and supports each other, which contrasts the majority of films made
today.
Tim and Mary meet at a dating event that
is completely pitch black. They connect
and by the end of the night before she leaves he gets her number. His mood quickly changes when he gets home to
his uncle whose play ended in disaster.
Tim decides to go back in time to help his uncle, not realizing that
this meant he never met Mary. Tim
figures out a way to meet Mary again and has to go through a variety of
obstacles to win her back.
Their relationship continues to grow and
soon enough they get married and have a baby.
A quick turn of events happens as Tim’s sister gets seriously injured
and Tim decides to go back in time to prevent it. When Tim returns home he realizes the
consequences of time travel as his baby girl no longer exists.
This film is an incredible portrayal of
family and the love that they build together.
While the main love story is that between Tim and Mary, adding time
travel creates a fun dynamic and bond between father and son.
The R rating this movie receives is for
crude language and one risqué scene, it is definitely on the mild side of R
rated movies. Really great film,
talented actors, interesting plot and character development especially made
this movie as incredible as it is!
By: Kyla Whittenberg
I had never even heard of this movie until I saw its title on the reviews page! From how you portrayed it, it sounds like one worth watching though! Great review, Kyla. I was hooked with the synopsis. I also appreciated your summary of the film's emphasis on the strong family. Now I'm really interested to see what happens with after he loses his daughter due to time travel! Overall, this is a well written synopsis and compelling review. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteSide note: When I read this line, "has no problem with beating his children..." - I initially stopped there and thought, "Oh man, not cool." Reading it in its entirety gave me a much nicer picture of the father.