About Time (2013)

Back to the Romance

At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.

If we based films upon first impressions, than About Time would seem to be a derivative romantic-comedy which just happens to have time travel within it, used merely to push the plot along. As it turns out, Richard Curtis' latest turns out to be exactly that, for the first half. The plot goes along predictably, guy meets the perfect girl, then loses her and embarks on a quest to get her back.

The second half then moves away from the boy meets girl story and focuses on telling a tale about the relationship between Tim and his father. This is where the film is at it's strongest, largely thanks to the wonderful acting that goes on between Domhall Gleeson and Bill Nighy.

While Curtis focuses the bulk of the development on the main characters, he offers next to nothing for anybody else. We don't get to know the side characters as actually being characters, amounting to little more than caricatures and plot devices. Chances are, you'll come out not remembering their names, but their basic titles, such as kooky sister with boyfriend troubles, nervous friend and angry writer.

Going back in time to prevent Made In Chelsea from being made.

As with any film involving time travel, there are going to be holes which can be found within the logic, which is understandable. However, Curtis attempts to set rules in order to limit the time travelling ability, which comes off as headscratchingly befuddling. Also, for a film that's billed as a romcom, there is an obvious absence of moments worth laughing at.

About Time may fall short in its comedic attempts and come off overly familiar in the romance moments, but it succeeds in presenting a relationship between father and son. However, if you wanted to see this film in order to glimpse Richard Griffiths in his final role, you'd be better off watching Withnail & I, or even The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear.