Innocent Pleasure

Rating: 10/10 (12 October 2018)

Inception, Looper, Predestination, X Men: Days of Future Past, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Memento, and Pulp Fiction- Hollywood and the moviegoers of the world have become enamored by the mind bending, analysis necessitating complexity of non-linear storytelling. As viewers of these films, we cannot lazily follow the string of the story. We must be attentive and tenacious to grasp the full experience. These films are beautifully knitted together. Perhaps as audience members, we feel that we are the ones who untangle every loop and knot until we are left with individual strings. The truth is, we are not the ones doing the work. That is not why people go to the movies. People go to Ward 16 Consolidated Theatres to lay back on new recliner chairs and munch on concessions. Not to solve mental mazes. It is the job of the cast and crew to challenge us with the mystery, and then politely present to us the answers. We get the delightful sensation of solving a puzzle without doing any of the work. Perhaps we love the momentary struggle, or maybe it is in our human nature. Either way, we have grown heavily attached to this film genre. Directors such as Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino have earned the respect of the common moviegoer with narrative complexity in their films. The sheer amount of thought that goes into creating these narratives is unimaginable. It takes extreme discipline and wit to remain within the structure of the film while dodging the plot holes. These films have gained so much popularity that they have inspired writers and directors to create similar films. So much so that some audience's youthful enthusiasms for the genre eventually withered out and turned into pessimistic annoyance. About Time was released when time travel movies seemed to pop up every week. Directed by Richard Curtis, About Time is a product of the popularization of time travel and non-linear storytelling in Hollywood. The initial review by critics did not bode well for the film. Many pointed to the blatant plot holes within the film, and with a 55% rating on Metacritic and a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, only the rare enthusiast would admit the movie is above average. However as time passed, the movie gained popularity and became a surprise hit in South Korea. 93% percent of Google users say that they like the movie. The light hearted sentimentality of the movie caught the hearts of people across the globe. Despite its origins, About Time ignores the common narrative conventions of time travel and proves that the powerful combination of charm and self awareness can more than compensate for a neglect of structural rules. Those who are simply looking for a relaxing time at the movies will love About Time.
About Time was released during a period where time travel movies were very popular and almost becoming a gimmick in Hollywood. Movies like Hot Tub Time Machine satirize this overuse of the time travel trope. The movie pulls inspiration from movies like Groundhog Day that mix the sci-fi aspect of time travel with realistic everyday life. Richard Curtis made a lot of romantic comedy movies such as Love Actually and Notting Hill. During the initial release of the film, About Time, many critics pointed out the plot holes that were left in the movie. Just one year prior, another time travel movie, Looper was released. Many debated over the effect of plot holes on the quality of Looper as well. There is one video where the writer/director of Looper, Rian Johnson is explaining the reasoning behind leaving the plot holes in that movie. In the interview, he states that the plot holes were a result of a conscious artistic choice. He says, "There is a slight amount of magical logic that you have to apply in order to make a story like this make sense." Is this a valid statement? Or is Rian Johnson just rationalizing his inability to write a impermeable screenplay? It would be unreasonable to assume a renowned writer such as Rian Johnson is lying about this. Furthermore, Rian Johnson surely has the skills to write a plot-hole-free screenplay. He broke into the scene with the critically acclaimed film, Brick, and has gone on to contribute to blockbusters such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi. A writer of such expertise would not settle for anything less than excellent in his mind. There is a very high chance that the plot holes in Looper were indeed an intentional artistic choice. There are parallels between About Time and Looper. If we are compromising our logic to believe that a human can time travel by closing his eyes in the dark, then why can't we use a little more of our "magical logic" to accept minor plot holes?
Most would agree that Richard Curtis was not trying to create a narrative masterpiece when he was writing About Time. This however, does not mean that it is a low quality movie. About Time is delightfully charming and lighthearted. The sentimental moments strike at perfect times. With realistic dialogue and witty humor, About Time humbly reminds us to enjoy the seemingly unimportant moments in our own lives. Within the film, the protagonist discovers how all of the men in his family have the ability to time travel. After years of using his powers in self interest, the protagonist realizes the limits to his powers and his father lets him in on his "secret formula to happiness." The father's secret, is that he only uses his powers to relive his life in the exact way he lived it the first time around. The whole message of the film is to enjoy the little moments. Richard Curtis wants the audience to simply enjoy life for what it is. The film wants us as an audience to simply enjoy the film: a charming, quirky story. The theme of the film compliments the simplicity of the story. Of course About Time is not a narrative masterpiece, but that was never the intent. About Time is very self aware. The protagonist is very relatable. He is not a buff, overbearingly masculine character. He is just an average awkward guy that happens to have the ability to time travel.
Throughout the movie the protagonist, Tim, played by Domhnall Gleeson, predictably does what all of us wouldn't admit to doing if we were gifted the power to time travel. A protagonist who has a 1/10 morality rating should not cause the movie to be 1/10 in quality. Many of these reviews fixated on the simplicity of the film as if simplicity is a bad thing. "Ordinary" was a word used a lot to criticize the characters as if ordinary is bad.a
Television shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation are loved by America because they give us a peer into the lives of relatable characters. Relatability is what caused The Office to become a sensation. The movies are often represented as an opportunity to momentarily escape from reality, but if someone were to say that movies should only function as an escape, they would be terribly wrong. Films can function as an escape from reality, but also as propaganda, memorabilia, education, and more. About Time knows its intention, and as a simple rom-com, it beautifully achieves its own goals.
About Time sparks an interesting argument because there will be a point where interpretation of intent matters. If we assume that the intention was to leave in the plot holes as a sacrifice to maintain the theme of finding beauty in mundanity, then my argument would work. On the other hand, if we assume that there was no intent of having plot holes and it was simply a mistake, then I would probably switch my argument. However, I have come to the conclusion that there was intent to leave in the plot holes because the simplicity of the story adds to the message of the movie. Moreover, the movie does such a great job of camouflaging the plot holes and the chances of that being a product of coincidence is super low. Film traditionalists who despise plot holes should ask themselves a question: why? Why would a plot hole ruin a film if its purpose is to remind the audience to enjoy the simplicities of life. If a movie achieves its goal, shouldn't it be considered a success? For people who enjoy tv shows like The Office or Parks and Recreation, this movie would be perfect. All of these shows have a theme that is based on finding the beauty in mundanity. Many people refer to movies similar to About Time as "guilty pleasures," but it is perfectly within our right to enjoy simple films with simple goals.