Nice rom-com with somewhat flawed sci-fi

Rating: 8/10 (28 July 2019)

Assuming you're a fan, and assuming therefore that you for example regard "Love, Actually" as overall the greatest romantic comedy ever made (I do), then you're going to go into this 6-year-old movie happy to find another piece of ultra-British work from Writer-Director Richard Curtis. And from the off, you're going to be happy to find - once again with Curtis - a diverse collection of great British music in there, and scenes of an incredibly photogenic and sympathetic London, as well as a simply-gorgeous Cornwall (how blessed might a country be to boast both within its borders, as separated by a journey of 4 or 5 hours?)
Most likely, a typical viewer will also find the core-pairing here, of Canadian Rachel McAdams and Irishman Domhnall Gleeson as Mary and Tim, pretty irresistible; and be more than content to find a supporting cast including both Bill Nighy (as Tim's dad) and Tom Hollander, with a very creditable Lydia Wilson as Tim's sister, and with small parts for Margot Robbie, Tom Hughes and even Richard Griffiths and Richard E. Grant.
More dubious is the "complication" of the basic love story with an ability of Tim's (shared with his dad) to time travel. And here we see done less well and less convincingly what was done very well indeed (if darkly and scarily) in "The Butterfly Effect"; or else to massive comedic and feelgood efect in "Back to the Future". Tim's dad tells him there are certain "rules" that come with this ability, yet every analyst online I've seen believes these rules are flouted in various ways, and that was absolutely also my conclusion.
Whether a film can survive that would seem a good question, but of course this movie does...
It's not without it's gravitas, as Tim does indeed resemble the Ashton Kutcher part in "Butterfly" in having to make some difficult choices as he strives to use his gift to make things better or put them right in semi-godlike fashion. However, while all may be fair in love and war, Tim's desire to successfully improve his "first time" with Mary is not a matter of life and death and IS (as some reviewers have wisely noted) a kind of sexual exploitation of a beloved partner, in which - admittedly - she benefits by getting a better version of the coitus each time, but is only aware of one (the final) time - while he basically has a repeat randy sex and lust fest with the girl he does genuinely love, but also clearly lusts after. It's dubious to say the least.
Indeed, this huge and potentially very serious part of Tim's life is kept entirely secret from Mary throughout the tale - an unustainable situation, especially in a marriage and life that purports to be as close as theirs is. Ironically, Tim's sister does learn his secret, which makes what is - in a sense - "perpetrated against" Mary look even worse.
(Fairly) obviously, "About Time" still has enough going for it to satisfy most viewers and to leave a mostly warm feeling. However, any deeper analysis will leave the piece looking a bit threadbare. A pity in that sense, so it's more a 7.5 than an 8, but OK.