Movie Review: 'About Time'

***** out of 5
123 minutes
Rated R for language and some sexual content
Universal Pictures

Article first published as Movie Review: 'About Time' on Blogcritics.

While my all-time favorite film will always be Jaws, there is one film that flies under the radar. It’s a movie no one who knows me would suspect to crack my favorite film list: Richard Curtis’ Love Actually. I love Christmas movies and I love Richard Curtis movies (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and The Boat That Rocked). He is the only man who really knows the true ins and outs of the romantic-comedy. So it should come with no surprise to find Pacific Rim officially getting bumped as my favorite film of 2013. While I’m not sure if it’s the best film of 2013, it sure gives everything else a run for its money. This is the kind of film I could gush on and on about profusely, but will keep it short and to the point, for readers’ sake.

Tim (Harry Potter’s own Bill Weasley, Domhnall Gleeson) has finally decided that the time has come to move to London, away for the first time from his loving mum (Lindsay Duncan), dad (Bill Nighy), and sister Kit Kat (Lydia Wilson). His decision comes about after a disastrous New Year’s Eve party and Dad has finally told him a family secret: that the men in their lineage can travel through time. Now, Tim is making his way as a lawyer, while trying to find true love, which comes in the form of Mary (Rachel McAdams), whom he met at a literal blind date bar. Soon enough, Tim is using his family powers to make everything in life as perfect as he can, but not without a few consequences along the way.

Curtis has really shown that he has the directing chops to bring his own screenplays to life, and has scored his biggest triumph yet in About Time. Along with his brilliant cast and amazing soundtrack, Curtis brings one of the year’s absolute best films to theaters. While some may possibly balk about it being just another message movie, there’s certainly nothing wrong with that in this case. For anyone interested to know, watching About Time is the first time my wife has ever seen me cry. Let that be a warning for all viewers! Gleeson may be a surprising lead, but he makes a fantastic one here, carrying the entire film on his shoulders with gusto. Curtis may fall on the trappings of shaky cam a little too much, but it never gets in the way of the story. As for the film itself, all that’s really left to say is that it’s about life, it’s about love, and it’s About Time 2013 started rolling out the masterpieces.

Photo courtesy Universal Pictures