Tim is an average 21 year old living in a comfy coastal house with a loving family. As he narrates every detail of his life, we figure out that he’s one of those “good boys” who don’t really have the knack to score points with girls. He’s devastated by this awkwardness. Domhnall Gleeson, who you may remember as Bill Weasley from the Harry Potter films, plays Tim. Gleeson looks boyishly young for the part (though he is actually 30) but he has a certain spark that takes his character beyond the nerdy protagonist stereotype. There’s an urge in Tim to change his love life and a massive surprise heads his way to stir things up. [break]
Just after the New Year’s party, Tim’s father (Bill Nighy) spills out a family secret: the men in the family can travel back in time. Upon learning this, Tim experiments with his time-travel gift to get himself that elusive girlfriend.
The movie is made to work as a fairy-tale and in due course of time, as he messes around with this very gift, Tim learns, re-learns and understands, living life one day at a time. Rachel McAdams plays Tim’s love interest Mary, and funnily enough, gets to play the Time Traveler’s Wife for the second time.
Coming from Curtis, who is known for mingling British humor with quirky sentimentality, About Time takes a fresh bet on romance and fantasy. A comfy affair, the movie is as charmingly executed as it’s expected from the filmmaker who gave us landmark rom-coms like Love Actually, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary; but it gets wobbly at the end and whenever Tim’s father springs up to lay new rules regarding the time-travel, there are lots of details to grasp which even the film seems to lose track of.
The running jokes are brilliant and you’ll get to see some time-travel mishaps that are totally hilarious. About Time works as a bona fide date movie. Go with a light head and come back smiling.
Screening at QFX Cinema
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