Smart, Witty And The Replay Value Is Off The Scales!

Rating: 10/10 (12 January 2014)

About Time is a film directed by Richard Curtis, and stars Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy. The story centres around Gleeson's character Tim, who at the age of 21, is told by his father that all men in their family can travel back in time. Instead of looking for knowledge or wealth with his new found power, he uses it to advance his pretty well abysmal love life.
Now, like so many, I had next to no info on what this was about. I had "Time travel, love story, certainly not sappy", and for me, that sounded pretty good. When I sat down to watch this though, I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. This film really captured me from the word go with it's hilarious script and fantastic main actor, and I'm not ashamed of saying it.
The performances are all top-notch. Domhnall Gleeson works his role perfectly, as a shy but charming young British man. He's ridiculously relatable, and his character feels incredibly genuine. Rachel McAdams also gives a stellar performance, and she is really adorable in this film. Call me strange or whatnot, I don't care, because I found her incredibly cute! The rest of the ensemble is wonderful, with special mentions to Bill Nighy, who plays dad, and gives a very emotional performance, and Tom Hollander, who gives an absolutely hilarious performance as Harry, a writer who is incredibly self-centred. All in all, wonderful film on the performance level.
This is certainly not your average Rom-Com, in which you can predict every aspect possible. It makes some twists and turns which you certainly can't see coming, and ultimately, the route it takes is a route not commonly seen in romantic films. Curtis doesn't try to clog up the film with tremendously silly, clichéd issues within the relationship, as so many romantic films do. It just takes you on a ride that so many relationships undertake. Ultimately, it feels like a real relationship, except this time with time travel! And whilst I'm on the topic of time travel, I believe they used that aspect incredibly well. They didn't use it at every opportunity possible, and in a nice twist, the actually used time travel for teaching us lessons, to accept everyday as it comes, to anticipate the next and to not live in the past. Ultimately, on a sentimental level, About Time delivers a lot.
In conclusion, About Time is by far, one of the best movies I've ever seen, period. It's free flowing, smart and incredibly charming, and it begs for repeat viewings. Richard Curtis has nailed it out of the park here, and I'm sure I'll be raving about this film all into the future.
10/10