Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Lindsay Duncan, Lydia Wilson, Richard Cordery, Joshua McGuire, Tom Hollander, Margaret Robbie, Will Merrick, Vanessa Kirby, Tommy Hughes, Clemmie Dugdale, Harry Hadden-Paton, Mitchell Mullen, Lisa Eichom, Jenny Rainsford, Catherine Steadman, Graham Richard Howgego, Kenneth Hazeldine, Natasha Powell, Richard E. Grant, Richard Griffiths.
All it takes is the right word said at the right time, an action when inaction could have sufficed; a smile instead of a frown and someone’s life could have changed in many different ways. Richard Curtis has perhaps been one of the leading writers in the British romantic comedy genre for so long that it seems odd that he has only just got round to writing and directing a film that also has the added appeal of time travel thrown into the mix. In About Time, Mr. Curtis fulfils the final piece of comedy science fiction with a love story thrown in and does it very well.
The film may seem to rest upon the relationship between the son and his father, the common bond in which they share; more deeply it was the reflection of humanity’s relationship with time and no matter how much you have, it never seems enough, pressurised into thinking that each instance has to be productive, to be filled continuously with the mundane and banal. Even a good book can become a fragile instrument, to be seen to be enjoying the simple things is somehow wasting time, the precious moments between the tick and the tock goes unnoticed and too soon is lost. It is a harsh lesson for Tim but one that reaches out to the audience and even for a brief second can change the way you look at the time you have.
There are many fine performances in the film, with the redoubtable Bill Nighy giving a stellar enactment, Domhnall Gleeson making Hugh Grant seem redundant as the typical man to go to when a director requires shy bashfulness with more than a hint of charm and who also carries dramatic tension very well, the wonderfully captivating Lydia Wilson as his screen sister Kit Kat and Tom Hollander as the manic aggressive script writer all strike a chord of how life really is but it is the innocent appeal of Richard Cordrey as Uncle D. who gains the most from his time on screen. No more than 10 minutes of time but that is all it takes to understand that life is not about what you could have changed but about those who remain in it. An outstanding, captivating portrayal.
About Time might be considered by purists to be one of Richard Curtis’ weaker films or even more horrifyingly a film which panders to the heart rather than the pseudo-cerebral, or pumped up action films in which have become dominant in recent years. About Time though is gracious, it plays with the greatest concept known to humanity and actually has characters in it that you can’t help but caring for. The relationship between Domhnall Gleeson and Bill is heart-warming, it rings true and is full of open honesty that in a world where to display your feelings or have compassion is to have scorn or words of derision expressed about you, is a refreshing and wonderful way in which to cast the family unit.
The question that will sit with the viewer will be one of what would you do with the time you had left? Would you change things or would you be the better person learning by your mistakes? The sense of loss and time running out was captured with great fondness with the un-credited appearances of Richard E. Grant and the late, great Richard Griffiths, in his final screen role. About Time is a film that should move you to shed a tear or two in amongst the well observed gentle humour.
Ian D. Hall