Review: About Time

Release date: November 8, 2013

Running time: 123 minutes

Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Lydia Wilson, Lindsay Duncan
Who to see it with: A fan of romantic dramedies, especially British ones.

David:

About Time tells the story of a boy named Tim (Gleeson) whose male family members have the ability to travel back in time. He finds out about this amazing talent on his 21st birthday and decides to use it to find love. He quickly meets Mary (McAdams) and begins an unusual courtship where he attempts to make every moment perfect. Tim quickly learns, however, that you can't change everything about the past, and sometimes the best parts of life are the ones that are outside of your control. 

I knew I would love this movie because of it's pedigree; I'm a huge fan of romantic dramedies in general and British ones in particular. About Time is infused with British charm and a dry wit that you quickly fall in love with. The cast is relatively small, mostly consisting of Tim's family and Mary, which allows you to spend a lot of time with the interesting and quirky main characters and get a fairly deep understanding of them. They're fleshed out and kept entertaining by some clever writing. This writing also allows the scenes to stay interesting even though you might have already seen the event once before. What I liked most about this movie is that the length of the film allows it to explore many aspects of life. By dealing with some of life's sadder events, it becomes more than just a simple story of a man falling in love with a woman. As Tim experiences life, he begins to appreciate more of what life is about, and starts to understand what should be changed and what should simply be accepted and enjoyed. My favorite moments were ones when Tim asks Mary what she would change about a certain event and she says she would change absolutely nothing. About Time tells a wonderfully original story that explores how much of life is simply beyond your control. It has a great British charm, clever writing, and an endearing story. 

Watch it.