Richard Curtis is a master at this kind of movie making and while this particular film is completely devoid of people of color, and the majority of the characters in this film are reduced to cardboard cut-out status, it's still a well done film. How is that, you ask? Simple, the characters that ARE developed are so open, loving, warm, and vulnerable that you can't help but pull for them. While it can make you feel a tad manipulated, that feeling won't hit until well after the movie is over and you're writing your blog on it. Take Tim, played by Domhnall Gleeson. He's the ridiculously introverted, shy, clumsy son of Bill Nighy who plays his charming, affable, warm and open dad and Lindsay Duncan who plays his cold, aloof, and disconnected mother. It's the coldness of the mother that sends Tim and his sister Kit Kat, played by Lydia Wilson running into the arms of their dad or Uncle D, their Alzheimer suffering but adorable "third parent" played by Richard Cordery.
When Tim turns twenty-one his father let's him know that he, like the previous men in the family now has the ability to travel in time. Find a dark private place, clench your fists, concentrate on the time you'd like to go back to, and voila you're there. Never mind the gaping plot holes in a story like this, while the thought of, "won't they run into themselves?" may enter your mind at some point, you mentally discard it to see where the story goes and you'll be rewarded for it. Tim uses his new found time traveling powers to go back and right the mistakes he's made in his life up until that moment and beyond. For every mistake Tim makes in his life, he now has the instant ability to go back and fix it right then and there. The problem arises when he tries to go back and fix someone else's mistakes, then his life gets completely twisted.
About Time isn't a tale of romance, though there is certainly a romantic element involved. No, about time is about the love between a father and a son. Between two men that would have become the best of friends had they not been related by blood. Rachel McAdams who plays Mary, Tim's romantic interest does an exceptionally charming job at almost making you believe the movie is about her and Tim, until the end. That's when by now the tears are running down your face and you're looking for a tissue.
The way About Time is rendered on the screen, you would think that every home in England, no matter how expansive it is, is a cramped space with lots of doors and rooms off to the sides somewhere. Actually even when the characters were outdoors I got that feeling. Shot straight up by cinematographer John Guleserian, there were no tricks regarding the time travel aspects. No flashing lights, no sparkles or twinkles, just flashbacks of moments. His indoor shooting though could have been better. The music is at times over the top sappy, but that's to be expected in a movie like this. Scored by Nick Laird-Clowes, the score is piano heavy but the film is dominated by music of pop stars, and while one or two may be timely and poignant, for the most part the music is utterly forgettable. I would recommend About Time if you have or had a great relationship with your dad, and even if you didn't, it's still worth the price of admission. I'll see you at the theater.
No comments:
Post a Comment