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After seeing "About Time," a time-travel fantasy that is basically " Groundhog Day " with Brit accents, a nice-bloke hero and minus a rodent (unless you count a rat of a boyfriend), I realize I have a problem.

I cannot help but fall for Richard Curtis's rather self-indulgent romantic comedies. My level head might be crying 'No,' but my lopsided heart can't help but say yes. For me, resistance is futile when it comes to his scripts for " The Tall Guy ," "Four Weddings and a Funeral," " Notting Hill " and "Bridget Jones' Diary" (which he co-wrote along with the unfortunate sequel that shall not be named).

Of course, " Love Actually ," his 2003 directorial debut, is a towering multi-layered masterwork that fairly oozes gooey woo and has grown into an annual Christmas TV tradition with its parade of befuddled Englishmen in varying stages of amorous yuletide desire.

I do draw the line, however, with his efforts with Mr. Bean—an enterprise that is essentially Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot for dummies—and his unwatchable second directing effort, " Pirate Radio ," that saw the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy (Curtis's go-to secret weapon of mass appeal) go down with the ship amid much sleazebag behavior.

But during the course of being seduced by his current paean to the power of love and its underlying message to simply live each day as if it were your last, this thought occurred: Something about Curtis's films allow cinematic endorphins to be released into the brain and generate a state of euphoria that is akin to absolute bliss.

To experience it, you just have to allow the analytical parts of your mind to unclench during the dodgier bits of business—all these pasty well-off people and their problems, oh woe is them!—and go with the feel-good flow.

And so I did until the last third or so with "About Time" and began to especially admire the often-impeccable casting in movies that feature Curtis's handiwork. At 53, Hugh Grant —a former mainstay—has matured far beyond impersonating fluttery-eyed fumblers in the throes of courtship. But the filmmaker has found a perfect replacement in the abundantly beguiling presence of Domhnall Gleeson , the son of Brendan Gleeson of " In Bruges " and Mad-Eye Moody fame.

Not that you would know it from the young Irish actor's last big role, the somber, bushy-bearded landowner Levin in last year's "Anna Karenina." Here, though, he is slightly more grounded than Grant (and his copper hair color provides fodder for ginger jokes, an Anglo staple) as Tim, a lawyer-to-be who is gobsmacked to learn at age 21 that the men in his wealthy family of eccentrics share the ability to go back in time. That the news is delivered in the most charming off-handedly fashion by his father in the form of Nighy, who never fails to amuse at the very least and astonishes almost always whenever he is onscreen, undercuts the questions that nitpickers might have about the process.

One major caveat: You can only revisit and revise portions of your own life. Or as Nighy puts it, "You can't kill Hitler or shag Helen of Troy." That Tim tends to go into a Narnia-esque wardrobe to begin his detours into the past adds a quaintly homey touch that is light years away from Star Trek or even H.G. Wells.

Once he is over the shock, Tim decides to concentrate on using his newfound ability to improve his love life. After fixing a disastrous New Year's kiss situation but failing to convince a comely summer visitor to give him a chance, he gets serious about his settling-down pursuits after moving to London. There he encounters an American named Mary ( Rachel McAdams at her most infectiously fetching) who is mad about Kate Moss, prattles on about her too-short bangs while referring to them as "fringe" and will be revealed to have quite good taste in stylish frocks.

During one of Curtis's typically untypical romantic meet-cute interludes, he has the pair first run into one another during what amounts to a literal blind date at an actual restaurant named Dans Le Noir, where patrons dine in complete darkness and are served by sight-impaired waiters.

For Tim and Mary, it's a case of like at first unsight after a server decides to seat them together along with their less-than-a-perfect-match friends. She quickly gives him her number once outside the eatery. From there, typical relationship moments tumble by—the first real date, the first sexual encounter, the sharing of living space, the meeting of parents, the proposal, the exceptional rainy-day wedding sequence (you will be Googling Jimmy Fontana and his song, Il Mondo) and so on, all repeated, reshaped and improved slightly by Tim's time-travel twiddling.

Until then, it is easy to ignore the nagging what-ifs the premise presents. But once babies get involved and potentially sad verging on tragic situations complicate matters, Tim can't so blithely alter his reality without unwanted consequence. At this point, you will either put up with "About Time" or think it's about time you leave, especially if you have issues with a husband who thinks it's OK to continue to keep his magical do-overs a secret from the person who is now his wife. But do stay, if only to witness Nighy's awesome ping-pong pantomime at the very least.

One character provides the true bliss litmus test of whether or not you are immune to the Curtis effect: Kit Kat (Lydia Wilson), Tim's impossibly offbeat nature sprite sister who adores purple T-shirts, apparently doesn't own a comb, gives hugs that are more like full-contact body slams, is prone to dating awful men and is ill-equipped to cope adulthood. In other words, Kit Kat typifies the dreaded Manic Pixie Dream Girl at her worst.

My favorite part of "About Time" has nothing to do with the love story, however, and has everything to do with Tom Hollander as a deeply nasty playwright—who briefly is Tim's landlord and, this being Curtis World, is wickedly funny. When Tim learns that the premiere of his scabrous friend's latest production was a complete disaster after an actor goes blank while delivering a big speech, he of course decides to fix it.

That the stars of the show are none other than the esteemed Richard Griffiths and Richard E. Grant in invaluable cameo roles and that they end up provoking some of the biggest laughs of the movie demonstrates why Curtis is a comedy genius. If only he knew when to step back in time and make a few changes himself.

Susan Wloszczyna

Susan Wloszczyna spent much of her nearly thirty years at USA TODAY as a senior entertainment reporter. Now unchained from the grind of daily journalism, she is ready to view the world of movies with fresh eyes.

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About Time (2013)

123 minutes

Rachel McAdams as Mary

Domhnall Gleeson as Tim

Lee Asquith-Coe as Bin Man

Tom Hollander

Margot Robbie as Charlotte

Lisa Eichhorn as Mary's Mum

• Richard Curtis

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Common sense media reviewers.

Sweet time travel romcom with strong language, some sex.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

A man who is given the gift of time learns that it

The main character is a genuinely nice fellow. He

A character gets into a drunk driving accident tha

The movie has no nudity, but characters definitely

Language is very strong, despite the film's sweet

The main character's sister has a drinking problem

Parents need to know that About Time is a sweet comic romance with a time travel element that shows characters with strong family ties, who are interested in settling down and raising new families. Though there's no nudity, sex is an issue; characters often talk about or think about sex, and we see couples in…

Positive Messages

A man who is given the gift of time learns that it is precious, and that every moment spent with his loved ones counts. Love, family, and loyalty are all strong themes throughout. The idea that one can find beauty in the small moments of every day is reinforced.

Positive Role Models

The main character is a genuinely nice fellow. He rarely abuses his time travel powers, and when he does it's in a sweet, funny way rather than in any way that hurts others. He is devoted to his family and demonstrates commitment to those he is closest to.

Violence & Scariness

A character gets into a drunk driving accident that is not graphic. She is seen in the hospital with some scratches and bruises. It is also alluded to that her boyfriend may be abusive toward her, but nothing definitive is said or shown. Some angry arguments and a few comic punches.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The movie has no nudity, but characters definitely think about and talk about sex. The main character spends a summer obsessing over a pretty houseguest and hoping to sleep with her. He later meets the girl of his dreams on a date, and uses his time travel gift to have sex with her several times in one night though only a bit of kissing and the humorous aftermath is visible. He also kisses a girl at a New Year's Eve party. A woman's naked breasts are visible in a photo art exhibit.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language is very strong, despite the film's sweet nature. "F--k" is heard several times, as well as "s--t," and this phrase: "oh my assing God." A middle finger gesture is shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

The main character's sister has a drinking problem that she overcomes. She is also said to be living with an abusive boyfriend who also has a drinking problem. She leaves that relationship and takes up with a nice guy. Otherwise, characters generally drink socially throughout the film, such as at dinner or at a New Year's Eve party.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that About Time is a sweet comic romance with a time travel element that shows characters with strong family ties, who are interested in settling down and raising new families. Though there's no nudity, sex is an issue; characters often talk about or think about sex, and we see couples in bed after presumed sex. Language is also fairly strong, with several uses of "f--k," some uses of "s--t," and one use of this phrase: "oh my assing God." The main character's sister is described as being in an abusive relationship and has a drinking problem. She gets into a drunk driving accident, and is shown in the hospital with some scratches and bruises. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (9)
• Kids say (20)

Based on 9 parent reviews

Some of the tropes it leans on don't work well

What's the story.

After turning 21, Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) has a discussion with his father ( Bill Nighy ) and learns that he has the ability to travel through time to any point in his own life. He spends a summer learning to use his gift and fails to win his summer crush, a pretty blonde houseguest. One night, he meets Mary ( Rachel McAdams ) and falls in love. Unfortunately, he learns that by changing other events that happened that night, he hasn't actually met her yet. So he must re-meet Mary and win her again. More complications arise when he learns that his time traveling affects his children. But as his time destinations become more limited, he begins learning deeper and more profound lessons about life.

Is It Any Good?

This is a low-key and heartwarming entertainment. One of our finest comedy writers, Richard Curtis worked on beloved British TV shows like Mr. Bean and Black Adder before making a splash in movies with Four Weddings and a Funeral , Notting Hill , and Bridget Jones's Diary . His directorial debut was the wonderful Love Actually . But as he continued directing, it became clear that he did not grasp brevity; all of his films run over two hours. Moreover, in addition to being precious about his material, Curtis has also become precious about his characters; nobody in ABOUT TIME is really tested in any serious way. The movie goes easy on them. But aside from that, the characters are really loveable and their relationships are delightfully old-fashioned and touching. Bill Nighy in particular gives a wonderful performance. Neither the father-son story nor the love story is given more weight, and the time travel aspect never takes over. (It's also refreshingly free of visual effects.)

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the movie's attitude toward sex . Do characters seem more interested in casual sex or in establishing deeper connections? How does this message differ from traditional Hollywood movies?

What would you do if you had time travel powers like Tim's? Would you help others?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the family relationships in the movie? How are we supposed to feel about the family?

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 1, 2013
• On DVD or streaming : February 4, 2014
• Cast : Bill Nighy , Domhnall Gleeson , Rachel McAdams
• Director : Richard Curtis
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Romance
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Brothers and Sisters
• Run time : 123 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : language and some sexual content
• Last updated : April 24, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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About Time Reviews

Despite its uneven presentation, the film's message is consistent and has to do with the human condition and the consistencies in relationships that either unite or distance people. Affection, loyalty, Trust. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 6, 2023

Don't be a cynic and watch this ridiculously charming sci-fi romance. No, its time travel concept doesn't make watertight sense.

Full Review | Mar 21, 2023

I’ve got quite a low-tolerance for Richard Curtis movies and am firmly in the anti-Love Actually camp. This one, however, is my kryptonite.

Full Review | Oct 3, 2022

What matters are not the unrealistic, fancifully romantic ways in which Curtis portrays his characters but the wisdom he offers about how they resolve to live their lives.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 19, 2022

Adorably romantic in a quotidian naturalist tone that is... repetitive. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 15, 2022

About Time is one of those films which will tug on all the emotions. It's very funny, sweet and a real tear jerker

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Feb 24, 2022

The most under-rated rom-com of the past decade.

Full Review | Feb 15, 2022

A tear-jerking fantasy about family and memory and the passage of time, and also ping pong. Most meaningful ping pong!

Full Review | Jul 2, 2021

Richard Curtis, writer and director, lets all the emotions loose, and if you fall for his film's sentimentality, you'll fall hard.

Full Review | Mar 30, 2021

Richard E. Grant, who is only on screen for three minutes manages to steal the show with a beautifully timed slow burn.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 31, 2021

A competent science-fiction themed movie without the usual clutter of science-fiction elements.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 3, 2020

Even if the film is guilty of sometimes getting too sweet for its own good, a genuinely moving closing act excuses the excess sugar.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 14, 2020

It was about time it ended.

Full Review | Apr 24, 2020

I had some many problems with this movie.

...one of the ways in which the filmmaker defuses the questionable gender politics of his primary love relationship is by widening the focus of his movie...

Full Review | Mar 11, 2020

It's a feel-good film about family relationships and how much you should cherish every moment you get with your loved ones.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Apr 9, 2019

About Time is inevitably moving stuff; a sci-fi for those who like a spoonful of sugar to help the paradoxes go down.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 2, 2019

About Time is sweet, wistful and diverting, but a bit insubstantial when it comes to romance. It's most satisfying when it focuses on the love between parent and child. If this is your sort of love story, it's a good one.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jan 19, 2019

Predictably, About Time has its saccharine-coated moments along with some bouts of flimsy feel-good pithiness attached...a few notches above the limited synthetic romantic time travel tales floating around aimlessly.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 12, 2018

It's not earth-shattering, but it is a witty, entertaining, and touching story.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 3, 2018

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About time: film review.

Rom-com maestro Richard Curtis mixes familiar boy-meet-girl ingredients with time-traveling magic realism, starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy.

By Stephen Dalton

Stephen Dalton

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LONDON — A hugely successful one-man brand whose credits as screenwriter and director have raked in well over a billion dollars to date, Richard Curtis set the gold standard for transatlantic rom-coms over much of the last 20 years. The 56-year-old comedy veteran describes his third writer-director project as his most personal to date, but it still ticks plenty of familiar boxes. Emotionally repressed upper-class Brits? Check. Well-heeled West London milieu? Check? Anglo-American boy-girl romance? Gently whimsical tone? Syrupy musical score? Wedding? Funeral? Check, check, check.

The chief digressions here from the director’s established formula are a light twist of science fiction, and a lot more somber reflection on the value of love and family. This time, Curtis seems to be reaching for the philosophical depth and emotional clout of bittersweet magic-realist classics such as Groundhog Day or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . He falls short of both, but his ambition is still admirable. Not as charming as his best work, but not as cloying as his worst, About Time received a modestly warm reception at its public premiere in London on Thursday. Commercial prospects will largely depend on whether the Curtis brand still packs the same platinum-plated punch as it did in more innocent times.

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Of course, Curtis made his international reputation writing the light-headed comedies Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, later co-scripting major studio projects including Bridget Jones’s Diary and War Horse . But his move from writer to writer-director has not proved quite so smooth. While his jarringly schmaltzy 2003 debut Love, Actually was a commercial smash, Curtis came unstuck with his 2009 period comedy The Boat That Rocked — retitled Pirate Radio in the U.S. — which stiffed at the box office on both sides of the Atlantic.

Taking no chances, About Time finds Curtis returning to familiar domestic boy-meets-girl material. Harry Potter veteran Domnhall Gleeson stars as Tim, a charmingly geeky 21-year-old trainee lawyer who is painfully clumsy in matters of the heart — in official film jargon, this is called “the Hugh Grant role.” Rachel McAdams co-stars as Mary, the ditzy expat American who becomes the object of Tim’s romantic attentions — in other words, the Andie MacDowell/Julia Roberts role. As ever, the backdrop is an anachronistic fantasy Britain with no discernible social or economic strife. As a shameless peddler of sunny picture-postcard cliches, Curtis is just a few steps behind late-period Woody Allen.

Early in the film, Tim discovers from his eccentric father (Curtis regular Bill Nighy ) that he has inherited the male side of the family’s gift for time travel. The script makes no attempt to explain this bizarre genetic quirk, nor why it only affects men, since it is purely a dramatic device to explore how we might behave if we had the chance to constantly rewrite our past mistakes. In this sense, at least,  About Time is very obviously a screenwriter’s movie.

Curtis is careful to limit Tim’s time-traveling abilities to small personal corrections — as his father ruefully remarks, killing Hitler is not an option. With this arbitrary plot limitation imposed, Tim is free to use his secret skills almost exclusively for wooing young women, quickly settling on Mary after a blind date in a pitch-dark restaurant. Using his special powers, he transforms himself into her ideal partner by rewinding the clock every time he needs to correct ill-conceived remarks or messy misunderstandings. This motif throws up a few inspired quick-fire vignettes, including a first-night sexual encounter that Tim transforms from lackluster to red-hot.

VIDEO: ‘About Time’ Trailer: Rachel McAdams Wooed by Time Traveler

About Time is handsomely filmed in a more intimate, hand-held style than previous Curtis features, but it still suffers from some of the director’s familiar shortcomings. As before, 21st century multicultural London appears to be peopled almost exclusively by wealthy white socialites. Most of the female characters are thinly written neurotics with willowy lingerie-model looks, and much of the dialogue feels labored. If stuck for a joke, Curtis fall backs on the dubious comic delights of posh people swearing and casual insults that liken women to prostitutes. An odd fixation.

Overlong at two hours, About Time sags in the middle with superfluous subplots about babies, car crashes and family crises. Curtis takes a long time to deliver his banal fortune-cookie message that time is precious so we should savor every moment, value our loved ones and treat other people kindly. Really? Hold the front page.

That said, About Time is not without its redeeming charms. Gleeson makes an agreeably quirky leading man while Nighy lights up the screen with his alluringly louche charisma, as ever. Fans of the cult 1987 British comedy Withnail & I will also enjoy seeing Richard E. Grant and the late Richard Griffiths reunited for one last time in an extended cameo sequence. Crucially, there are just enough laugh-out-loud moments here to excuse the lurches into shameless, tear-jerking sentimentality.

Production companies: Working Title Films, Relativity Media

Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Nicky Kentish Barnes

Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Lindsay Duncan, Tom Hollander, Margot Robbie

Director: Richard Curtis

Screenwriter: Richard Curtis

Cinematographer: John Guleserian

Editor: Mark Day

Music: Nick Laird-Clowes

Rated R, 123 minutes 

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At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns ou... Read all At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think. At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.

• Richard Curtis
• Domhnall Gleeson
• Rachel McAdams
• 909 User reviews
• 281 Critic reviews
• 55 Metascore
• 3 wins & 9 nominations

• Jimmy Kincade
• Ginger Jenny

• Mary's Father, Fitz

• Mary's Mother, Jean

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia Zooey Deschanel was originally cast as Mary but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and Rachel McAdams replaced her.
• Goofs After Tim and Kit Kat go back in time to fix her life, she knows all about her new life with Jay as soon as they return, but Tim doesn't know about his daughter Posy becoming a boy after he accidentally alters her existence.

Tim : [voiceover] We're all traveling through time together, every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride.

• Connections Featured in Ellie Goulding: How Long Will I Love You (2013)
• Soundtracks The Luckiest (Instrumental) Written by Ben Folds (as Benjamin Folds) Performed by Ben Folds Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.

User reviews 909

• theycallmemrglass
• Aug 19, 2013
• November 8, 2013 (United States)
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Official Facebook
• Official site
• Portloe, Truro, Cornwall, England, UK (on location)
• Working Title Films
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $12,000,000 (estimated)
• $15,322,921
• Nov 3, 2013
• $87,100,748

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 3 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Surround 7.1
• Dolby Atmos

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Screen Rant

'about time' review, science fiction fans, along with anyone who is especially intrigued by the time travel premise, should temper certain expectations and, instead, focus on about time's endearing character moments..

In About Time awkward and reluctant 21 year-old, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) gets life-changing news when his father (Bill Nighy) reveals that then men in their family have the ability to travel back between the present and past (but not the future). Whereas dear old Dad has used the gift in the pursuit of knowledge, by reading every book worth reading, Tim is quick to decide that his time-hopping story will be about finding true love.

After moving from his family’s seaside estate to big city London, it isn’t long before Tim finds his soul mate Mary (Rachel McAdams) in a chance dinner meeting. However, when he travels back in time to help save his playwright roommate from a career-ending show, Tim learns that, due to his time-meddling, the encounter with Mary no longer occurred – as every change he makes in the past can have minor (and sometimes major) consequences for the future. Armed with this knowledge, Tim sets out to find Mary (again) for the start of a life-long journey of love, loss, and living each day to the fullest (sometimes more than once).

About Time was written and directed by Love Actually helmer Richard Curtis, who is no stranger to time-traveling protagonists, given that he penned the fan-favorite Doctor Who episode “Vincent and the Doctor." Unlike Doctor Who ,  About Time is free of extraterrestrial threats and mind-bending paradoxes, but that doesn't mean Curtis falls short in offering a compelling time-travel story mixed with an evocative and moving character drama. Science fiction fans will find some fun twists on traditional time-travel tropes (along with a lot of logic holes); but, while the time travel aspect is essential to the plot (as well as many of the jokes), About Time is first and foremost a tale about love and family.

The About Time marketing has focused heavily on Tim's pursuit of Mary but the larger storyline is significantly broader than the trailers suggest - as the Tim/Mary romance is actually established relatively early. Thankfully, the plot covers a lot more ground than a simple rom-com, as Tim uses his ability to help a troubled sister, raise children, improve his career, and (most importantly) face losses outside of his time-altering control. Curtis ensures that Tim explores the limitations and consequences of his power in a wide variety of scenes and unique situations but a few of the setups will be familiar to filmgoers who frequent indie family dramas. Nevertheless, the time-travel backdrop adds a layer of complexity that allows About Time to break out of any over-used tropes and present fresh insights - especially during interactions between Tim and his father.

Performances are strong across the board but the film's leading man Domhnall Gleeson (best known for his portrayal of Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter films) is a standout as the time-traveling Tim. Not only does Gleeson effortlessly present his character's growing confidence throughout the story, from a clumsy kid to a self-assured adult, watching Gleeson revisit key scenes over and over again (varying Tim's reactions each time around) is exceptionally entertaining. Yet, Curtis wasn't content to just pen a straightforward story about a man that can travel through time, and Gleeson is up to the task of ensuring that Tim is, first and foremost, a relatable protagonist charged with an immense gift (and subsequently responsibility). As a result, in addition to time-hopping hijinks, the actor sells a number of challenging and sentimental scenes that ground the film in uplifting (as well as heart-wrenching) drama.

The onscreen chemistry between Tim and Mary is also strong and authentic - making it easy to connect with the pair in times of joy and struggle without resorting to sappy rom-com melodrama. McAdams gets to dabble in a much more quirky and down-to-earth character than many of her prior romance genre roles - since Mary is not a glamorous girl in pursuit of a Prince Charming. Much like Tim, she's a fully realized dreamer with interesting eccentricities, which makes her a believable and captivating partner in love (instead of simply a coveted dream girl).

As mentioned, while Tim's search for true love is a central (and enjoyable) feature of About Time , the relationship between the film's time-traveling father and son pair is equally important and affecting. Unsurprisingly, Nighy is likable and charming as Tim's dad - unabashedly throwing himself into the role and presenting the senior Lake as a brilliant and enthusiastic person who has lived (and relived) his days to the fullest. The central cast is rounded-out with an equally competent set of performances from Lindsay Duncan and Lydia Wilson as Tim's mother and sister, respectively. Both characters are primarily relegated to supporting the father and son arc or exploring aspects of the time-travel plot device but Mrs. Lake and Kit Kat are still rounded - even if their screen time is slightly limited.

Sadly, while time-travel enables  About Time to separate itself from other romance/family dramas, the actual logistics of the science fiction backdrop will be extremely problematic for some viewers. About Time spends a lot of its runtime explaining the rules of its particular take on time-travel - through a lot of heavy-handed exposition from father Lake as well as Tim's trial-and-error experimentation. Strangely, Curtis often breaks any established rules without consequence (or acknowledgment). The director is, for old reason, focused on telling the best possible character story but, sometimes, emotional moments come at the expense of major plot holes that go entirely unexplained. It's unlikely that any oversights (or cheats) will bother mainstream moviegoers who are engaged in Tim's storyline but moviegoers who (understandably) expect time-travel stories to respect their own rules will find several obvious contradictions and holes in About Time .

Overall, Curtis succeeds at telling an impactful and engaging character story about a man that can travel back in time. Solid performances from the entire cast ensure that About Time nails nearly every key moment - presenting smart and often humorous drama. That said, the writer/director benefits from his time-traveling premise without also spending the time (and effort) to ensure that About Time is also a proficient sci-fi tale. Clumsy (and downright broken) time-travel rules undercut the success of the project - as many moviegoers will, after the fact, have a difficult time piecing together the logistics and plugging-up plot holes. For that reason, science fiction fans, along with anyone who is especially intrigued by the time travel premise, should temper certain expectations and, instead, focus on About Time 's endearing character moments - which were clearly priority number one for Curtis.

If you’re still on the fence about  About Time , check out the trailer below:

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About Time  runs 123 minutes and is Rated R for language and some sexual content. Now playing in theaters.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comment section below.

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• DVD & Streaming
• Comedy , Drama , Romance , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• November 1, 2013
• Domhnall Gleeson as Tim; Rachel McAdams as Mary; Bill Nighy as Dad; Lindsay Duncan as Mum; Lydia Wilson as Kit Kat; Richard Cordery as Uncle Desmond; Joshua McGuire as Rory; Tom Hollander as Harry; Margot Robbie as Charlotte; Will Merrick as Jay; Harry Hadden-Paton as Rupert

Home Release Date

• February 4, 2014
• Richard Curtis

Distributor

• Universal Pictures

Movie Review

“Dad always seemed to have time on his hands,” says 21-year-old Tim as About Time begins. “He was eternally available.”

And so he was … more so than Tim could have known while he was growing up. That’s because all the men in Tim’s family share a peculiar secret: They can travel through time, a fact that Dad reveals to Tim on his 21st birthday. Unlike some science fiction visions of time travel, these men can only go backward in time, not forward. And they can only travel through the span of their own lives to rewrite their own personal stories. So, going back and killing Hitler, as Dad notes, is right out.

Still, being able to travel back even through one’s own life offers a unique opportunity for do-overs. Mess it up the first time and, well, you can always try, try again. All these time travelers have to do is go into a closet (or any dark place), close their eyes, clench their fists and think about where—or when, I should say—they want to go.

Tim begins by redoing a New Year’s Eve party where he didn’t quite have the courage to kiss a girl who wanted to be kissed, a miscue he rectifies the second time around. But it’s not long before he sees the full possibilities of such power. In a conversation with his dad, he says it would be easy to amass huge sums of money. Dad warns him off: “Utterly screwed up your grandfather’s life.” Fine. Tim really isn’t interested in money anyway. “For me,” the awkward Brit confesses, “it was always going to be about love.”

He tries, but fails, to rewrite the script of his first love, Charlotte, a friend of the family who had recently spent the summer living with them, mostly hanging out with Tim’s sister, Katherine (who goes by the nickname Kit Kat). “Big lesson No. 1,” Tim reports. “All the time travel in the world can’t make someone love you.”

And then it’s off to London to begin a new chapter in his life. Without the aid of time travel, Tim meets a pretty-but-insecure young woman named Mary. It would have been love at first sight, except that they meet in a club where all the lights are out and they can only talk without seeing one another. Still, the lights-out approach works in Tim’s favor, and he manages to procure equally smitten Mary’s number when they finally see each other.

Then comes big lesson No. 2. In an effort to help the man he’s rooming with, Tim travels back to that night to undo a mistake that really hurt the guy. It’s a selfless, well-intended choice … but one that essentially “overwrites” the night he met Mary. When Tim finally tracks Mary down again, she has no memory of him, and he has to work much harder—and do even more time travel—to initiate a relationship with her again.

He succeeds in re-wooing her, and it’s not long (depending on how you define that term) before they’re married, and Tim’s traveling even more to try to help others and correct things that don’t go just right. Slowly but surely, however, the young husband (and soon, father) begins to realize that some mistakes can’t be undone.

[ Note: Spoilers are contained in the following sections. ]

Positive Elements

Tim’s father, a retired university professor, adores his son. And he uses his time-traveling ability to attempt to right the wrongs that develop between them. One mistake he’s broken up over is that he didn’t tell his son he loved him while giving the toast at Tim and Mary’s wedding, an omission he rectifies the second time around. He also tells his aging, dementia-addled brother that he loves him, a word of encouragement that Uncle Desmond later says gave him the best day of his life. That speech also finds Dad saying, “I’m not proud of many things in my life. But I am proud to be the father of my son.”

Dad’s overarching plan for how to use his power? He says that he lives each day normally—including experiencing all of its stresses and difficulties—then goes back and relives those days a second time to laugh at all the things that stressed him out. The message here is that the things we get so worked up over in life generally aren’t worth the anxiety we devote to them.

Tim goes one step further. He embraces his father’s counsel for a time, as it were. In the end, however, he realizes that the hard stuff and the things that don’t go quite right are an inherent part of life, and that the goal isn’t to iron out every rough spot, but to embrace the difficulties with joy and contentedness.

Twice Tim must make difficult choices about how to use his newfound ability. The first time, his troubled sister Kit Kat has been involved in a drunk-driving accident due to despondence over a failing relationship. Kit Kat’s boyfriend has long been a thorn in her side, so Tim takes her hand and travels many years back to the party where she met him. (The time travelers can take others with them.) They rewrite her history, and the bothersome boyfriend is eliminated. When they return to the present, however, Tim encounters a serious unintended consequence of his “meddling”: His baby girl has become … a baby boy because of the changes he made in history. Heartbroken, Tim seeks his father’s advice, and Dad tells him that if you travel back beyond the birth of a child, it will result in the birth of a different child. So, in a particularly convoluted plot twist, Tim manages to undo what he’s done in order to get his daughter back, a choice that means Kit Kat still has her accident and the consequences of years of bad choices.

Then, when Tim’s dad succumbs to cancer, Tim begins traveling back to visit his dad in the past, which lessens the blow significantly. Mary wants to have another baby, however, and Tim now knows it will mean he can never visit his dad again. It crushes a part of him, but he agrees to Mary’s desire, travelling back one more time to say farewell. “Saying yes to the future meant saying good-bye to my dad forever,” he tells us.

Spiritual Elements

Tim’s father says, “I never said we could fix things. Life’s a mixed bag. Look at Jesus: He was the Son of God for God’s sake, and look how that turned out.” At Dad’s funeral, we hear the Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds song “Into My Arms,” which includes this repeated line: “Into my arms, O Lord.”

Sexual Content

Before Tim and Mary tie the knot, Tim runs into Charlotte again. They have dinner together, and it’s clear that Charlotte wants to sleep with him. She invites him back to her apartment, but at the door Tim turns and runs back to his home with Mary, and proposes.

That’s the good news. Here’s the rest of it: Early in their relationship, Mary invites Tim home with her and makes it clear she’s ready to have sex. We see him removing her pajamas and bra (her bare back is shown) as the two intertwine. Tim is disappointed in his first “performance,” though, and decides to redo it … several times. Accordingly, dialogue (and their body positions) afterward indicates that each subsequent “first time” is more intense than the last.

Tim moves in with Mary. And during a wedding planning session, Mary does a striptease for him, promising she’ll remove one item of clothing for every decision about the wedding Tim makes. (We see her bare back again, as well as her hands covering her breasts.)

An art museum exhibit featuring still photos of British supermodel Kate Moss includes an image of her topless. Kit Kat and Charlotte wear skimpy bikinis, and Kit Kat has a penchant for revealing, clingy clothing throughout. Tim sees Charlotte in a negligee. Mary tries on revealing dresses, labeling one as “too breasty” and saying that another makes her look like a “prostitute.”

Speaking of which, Mary and Tim talk about whether prostitutes enjoy sex. Mary’s best friend implies that she’s quite promiscuous. Suggestive dialogue includes verbal references to oral sex and seeing bare breasts. Tim concludes that Charlotte and a female friend are a lesbian couple. (They’re not, but it turns out that Charlotte’s friend is gay.)

Violent Content

Kit Kat gets in a car wreck, leaving her with cuts and bruises on her face.

Crude or Profane Language

Five or six uses each of the f- and s-word. More than 30 misuses of God’s name, including one pairing with “d‑‑n.” Once or twice each we hear “h‑‑‑,” “pr‑‑k,” “d‑‑k,” “a‑‑,” “arse,” “d‑‑n,” “p‑‑‑,” “b-gger” and “b‑‑tard.” We see obscene hand gestures twice.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Alcohol is consumed socially at parties, including a big New Year’s Eve soiree. Tim says the next day that he’s got a hangover. It’s implied that Kit Kat’s drinking habit is spiraling out of control.

Other Negative Elements

The film doesn’t comment on the fact that Tim and his dad apparently never let their wives in on their time-traveling secret.

About Time is a maddeningly sweet film that, with some strategic edits, easily could have been more accessible to a much wider audience than its R rating will allow.

First, the sweetness part.

About Time tenderly and quietly focuses on the beauty, joy and wonder (as well as the inevitable grief) that flows from a family’s love. It’s an achingly beautiful thing to watch Tim and his dad go for one last walk on the beach, to play Ping-Pong one last time. It’s an achingly beautiful thing when Tim’s fierce mother says of her husband’s imminent death, “I am so uninterested in life without your father.” It’s an achingly beautiful thing to watch Tim strive so hard to change his sister’s hurtful past, only to realize that the consequences of editing her history are too much for him to bear. And when Tim tells us at film’s end, “I just try to live each day … as if it were the final day of my full, extraordinary life,” it’s an achingly beautiful echo of Scripture’s exhortation to seek contentment, to have hearts of gratitude and to cast our cares upon our heavenly Father.

For all that, however, there’s still that maddening part to contend with.

Tim and Mary hop in the sack—repeatedly—very early in their relationship. They move in together not long after that. And their actions once again reinforce our culture’s boundary-free mores when it comes to physical intimacy. Throw in some f- and s-words and more than 30 misuses of God’s name, and all those achingly tender moments elsewhere start to feel achingly sullied as well.

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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About Time – first look review

A s far as we know, Richard Curtis cannot travel through time. But the kingpin of the Britcom can get a huge movie off the ground. And, along with the possible, Curtis has managed to achieve the impossible. Specifically: he has gone back to 1993 and remade Groundhog Day with a ginger Hugh Grant.

About Time, Curtis's third film as director as well as writer following Love, Actually (2003) and The Boat that Rocked (2009), is about as close to home as a homage can get without calling in the copyright team. What throws you off the scent are those other notes that flood out from the first frame – heady remembrances of Curtis films past. There's the familiar lush locations: the rambling coastal pad where our hero grows up with parents Bill Nighy and Lindsay Duncan, then the London digs to which he decamps when starting out at the bar – a Smeg-ready mansion owned by Tom Hollander's church-mouse playwright.

There's the vaguely disabled family member (in this case, a permanently befuddled uncle), the regulation scatty sister who needs redeeming (Lydia Wilson). And, all present and correct, the bright-smiled American goddess (Rachel McAdams) who will rescue our bumbling toff.

And, of course, there's Hugh Grant – or rather, a new hybrid version in lieu of the real deal. He certainly sounds like Grant (so much so that you half suspect a dub job), but that distinctive voice comes from the body of gangly Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, son of Brendan, alumnus of Harry Potter. The effect, at first, is unnerving; as About Time marches on, Gleeson's innate charm gleams through and this weird disconnection becomes quite compelling.

Gleeson plays Tim, who is told at 21 that all male members of his family have been able to time travel. You just pop into a cupboard, or somewhere small and dark like the downstairs loo or the servants' quarters, clench your fists, imagine a time and place in your past, and bingo. There are some quirks of course – some slightly moth-eaten logic about the effect that, say, having children has on your epoch-hopping abilities. But that's basically it.

And, accordingly, Tim uses what might feel quite an earth-shattering skill to fry fairly small fish – primarily, to woo McAdams. They run into each other and hit it off, but Tim accidentally deletes that evening and so must engineer another meet-cute. A successful one. So follows the film's meatiest section, in which Tim makes and then erases gaffe after gaffe in pursuit of his squeeze-to-be.

So far, so familiar, but it's not the indebtedness that deadens the comedy. What does is an uncarbonated script, and the fact that Tim's motives feel opportunistic, for all his romantic protestations. When Bill Murray had to rewind and start again through the course of one endlessly relived evening courting Andie MacDowell in Groundhog Day, he was pretty basely motivated. Yet what allowed Murray's character to ultimately break the curse was not copping off with the girl, but realising that he needed to be a better man. There is nothing like that here. And so, as Tim heads back for another pop once he knows McAdams's bra fastens at the front, it just feels a bit like grooming.

There are bright points; a few awkward lines that give rise to big laughs, scenes of real tenderness between Gleeson and Nighy. You feel a true Scrooge balking at a movie message which urges you to make the most of every day, however humdrum it might appear. But there's something grating about being instructed to do so by a character whose "ordinary little life" is objectively pretty minted, and who doesn't in fact need to make the most of every moment on account of perhaps the most screwy example of primogeniture you could ever imagine.

Curtis's heart is in the right place. In fact, it's all over the place – front and centre and backlighting the whole thing with a benevolent glow. But it is hard not to watch this, read the news that it will probably be his last as a director, and look to the future.

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Movie Reviews

This 'time,' supernatural love story falls flat.

Bob Mondello

Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) learns from his father (Bill Nighy) that he has the ability to travel back and forth through time, a power Tim uses in his pursuit of love. Murray Close/Universal Pictures hide caption

Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) learns from his father (Bill Nighy) that he has the ability to travel back and forth through time, a power Tim uses in his pursuit of love.

• Director: Richard Curtis
• Genre: Romantic Comedy
• Running Time: 123 minutes

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

With: Domhnall Gleeson , Rachel McAdams , Bill Nighy

There's a phrase in French — " L'esprit de l'escalier ," meaning "staircase wit" — for that moment when you've lost an argument and are walking away, and waaay too late, think of the perfect comeback. If you could just rewind your life a few minutes, you'd win the argument.

That's pretty much the setup in the new British comedy About Time .

We meet shy, young Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) as he's making a total mess of an opportunity to kiss a girl on New Year's Eve. But the next day, his father (Bill Nighy) tells him a family secret: The men in the family can travel back in time. All they have to do is head into a closet, close their eyes, clench their fists and think about a moment in their lives that could have gone better.

So Tim tries it, heading back to New Year's Eve, and things go better.

"It's going to be a complicated year," Tim says. "It's going to be a complicated life," his father corrects.

Time travel doesn't make Tim's relationship with Mary (Rachel McAdams) perfect so much as it washes over the imperfect bits that make it intriguing. Murray Close/Universal Pictures hide caption

Time travel doesn't make Tim's relationship with Mary (Rachel McAdams) perfect so much as it washes over the imperfect bits that make it intriguing.

True enough. Writer-director Richard Curtis — who wrote Love Actually , Four Weddings and a Funeral , Bridget Jones's Diary and Notting Hill — does complicated pretty well at this point. Tim soon meets the girl of his dreams and blows the encounter completely, but after a few tries he manages to pull himself together.

All those Curtis films mentioned above feature Hugh Grant, and while this one doesn't, Gleeson is a decent stand-in. His one true love is played by Rachel McAdams, who must be getting tired of smiling sweetly as all her leading men keep getting do-overs — four years ago in The Time Traveler's Wife , two years ago in Woody Allen's decade-warping Midnight in Paris , and now here. She, meanwhile, has to cope with real life.

One thing you realize as the film goes on is that time travel isn't terribly useful for the romantic bits. Romantic comedy is all about awkwardness and bad timing, and if you can basically eliminate those by popping into a closet, there's no tension after a while. So the story gets bland, and with Curtis being a competent but not an especially exciting director, About Time becomes a case of the bland leading the bland.

If only he could go back and try again.

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Movie Review: ‘About Time’

Upon a bit of introspection and doing some mental math in regards to how many times I watch it each holiday season, I’d have to say Love, Actually might be my favorite Christmas movie. So … Umm … There’s that. Take it for what you will.  I even make sure each year to watch both the feature film and then watch it again with the commentary track (Hugh Grant jokes about Colin Firth the entire time, it’s hilarious).

Why does any of that blathering matter?  Well, because Love, Actually comes from the same writer/director as the newly released About Time … about which this actually is a review for.  Hmm, I’m not getting grammar points for that last sentence.  Moving on, Richard Curtis is the man behind both films and my instinct to seek this movie out, despite its obvious chick flick DNA, was rewarded with it becoming one of my favorite movies of 2013.

Without giving away too much, or at least no more than the trailers have already done so, the film is a bit of science fiction mixed in with a coming-of-age romantic tale.  Once they turn 21, the gentlemen in the Lake family all have the peculiar ability to travel back in time; to correct any grave errors, relive cherished memories, and attempt to mold their lives as they want them to be.  This sets the framework for the main character of Tim (Domhnall Gleeson), who just really wants a girlfriend. He eventually sets his sights on Mary ( Rachel McAdams ) and the rest unfolds through trial and error.

What elevates the film from a simple romantic sci-fi comedy into something more is Curtis’ ability to develop each of the people in Tim’s life.   Most importantly, there’s his family.  His strong connection with Dad (Bill Nighy), Mom (Lindsay Duncan), and his sister (Lydia Wilson) prove to be the driving force of his personality.  Then there are Tim’s friends from work and even a playwright in London that joins the mix in particularly hilarious fashion. And of course, there’s the love interest in Mary. All of them highlight different facets of Tim and Gleeson carries the performance off beautifully.

This is particularly important because no matter how good the ensemble is (and they are excellent), the movie simply would be crushed under its sentimentality without the remarkably relatable, sincere, and vulnerable Gleeson tying it all together.  To no great surprise, the scenes between Tim and his Dad are the big standouts and the group as a whole exhibits some of the best chemistry on film this year.

In short, About Time is a movie that may not be on people’s radar because they think it’s just another sappy romance, or maybe the combination of time travel and McAdams evokes not-so-fond memories of The Time Traveler’s Wife .  Rest assured, this is not either of those things. Yes, there’s some gooeyness to the proceedings but Curtis cuts it with clever dialogue, dry British wit, and excellent performances that keep the saccharine levels at bay.  This is a feel-good movie that doesn’t shy away from some of the tougher moments of life, which serves as a reminder that one cannot truly experience joy without knowing sadness as you need the comparison to put either in context.

This is easily the best date movie of 2013, and I say that without sarcasm or any negative connotation.  The film is relatable to just about anyone and the quality of its production, from top to bottom, will make it worth the ticket price.  When it comes to movies I’ll be recommending people see this year, About Time heads right near the top of the list as it takes no hemming and hawing regarding the type of demographic that should enjoy it. It should please anyone except the most anti-romantic … and you know who you are.

About Time is rated R for language and some sexual content.

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About Time Review

06 Sep 2013

123 minutes

A time-travel movie, starring a young red-headed guy and an old fella with crazy hair? If Richard Curtis’ About Time sounds like the aborted Eric Stoltz incarnation of Back To The Future, you need to park your DeLorean at the door. There will be no burning tyres, high-speed skateboarding or Huey Lewis here. Where Zemeckis floored it at 88 mph, Curtis’ tale unfolds at more like 30 mph. Both, though, ponder many of the same questions and have that rare ability to make you think and feel at the same time.

About Time is a quintessentially Curtis joint, with all the inherent baggage — good and bad — that that label flags up. There will be heart-on-sleeve emotion. There will be an array of supporting characters you’ll either want to cuddle or smack in the face. There will be a hot American woman and her unlikely British suitor. There will be delirious swearing. And, of course, there will be rain. Lots of rain.

If all the above makes you want to reach for the insulin then you should on paper, though not in reality, pass. (You should also probably question your life-view, but let’s not get started on all that.) And if you are of the camp that has enjoyed Curtis ever since Four Weddings And A Funeral, and hadn’t even noticed his propensity to drift into disproportionately high lovey-doviness at times, then you’re in for an absolute treat.

For About Time is Curtis’ most interesting, mature, profound and deeply moving movie. It also features some cracking gags about oral sex, and the funniest sex scene since Emma Thompson got a piece of toast stuck to her arse-cheek in The Tall Guy.

What’s most impressive is how Curtis backs up his pre-release claims of this being a movie based in his universe but also a progression of it. He may have cast pretty much the most adorable romantic leading lady working today (Rachel McAdams, delivering yet another you’d-marry-her-in-a-heartbeat performance), but in truth, Curtis is only temporarily concerned with whether our lovable hero can win his Yankee damsel’s hand. In this, Curtis’ ambitious magnum opus, his guy gets his girl, loses her and gets her back before we’ve even hit the halfway mark.

The real focus is on fathers and sons. And in Bill Nighy and Domhnall Gleeson, a none more British Dad and his Boy, Curtis has found a winning formula to stitch into one that has already worked so well for him for years. Gleeson is terrific, both as the early hormonal dork pining after girls so far out of his league they may as well be aliens, and as the latter part of the movie’s magnetic grown-up. Nighy’s scatty charisma, meanwhile, is the perfect foil. And though the movie veers wildly in the early part of its third act (most distracting being an insane and unsuccessful shift into some sort of British Butterfly Effect territory), it is their relationship, a beautifully played mix of contradiction, understanding and affection, that elevates it come the end into something properly wonderful. At once intricately plotted, deceptively simple and proudly British, it’s a romantic Inception — in a tatty jumper.

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About Time (United Kingdom, 2013)

Time travel stories are tricky things. Although there's no hard-and-fast way to develop one, consistency is a key. As a screenwriter, when you're dealing with things like reworking history and spinning off alternate universes, it's necessary to stick to a series of established rules. Figure out how time travel works in your story and don't vary from it. By violating this basic precept, writer/director Richard Curtis (supposedly marking his final time behind the camera) turns his romantic fable into a mish-mash of contradictions and contrivances. With more attention to detail, this could have worked, but the time travel aspects are so badly executed that the movie as a whole falters and eventually rips apart at the seams.

We know from Curtis' past endeavors that he's a romantic, so the presence of sentimentality (bordering at times on mawkishness) isn't a surprise. However, where films like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love, Actually can boast a portion of incisive wit to go along with the soft center, About Time 's sweetness tends toward saccharine. There's a bit of Groundhog Day here, only not as clever. There's some of The Time Traveler's Wife (italicized by Rachel McAdams' participation in both projects), but not as emotionally effective. And there are echoes of The Butterfly Effect without the overt darkness. In fact, while it's possible to compare About Time to numerous other films, the comparison will rarely be favorable toward this movie.

The central conceit is that 21-year old Tim (Domhall Gleeson) can travel in time. There are limitations, of course: he can only venture backward in his own personal time stream and he has to find a dark, quiet spot to do the deed. I have no problem with this; for there to be a story, you have to accept this premise. The problems emerge from the inconsistencies that result from Curtis changing the rules on the fly.

Tim learns the ropes from his father (Bill Nighy), who is also a time traveler. Then he starts trying things on his own. His primary goal in life is to get a girlfriend. He sets his sights on a gorgeous blond named Charlotte (Margot Robbie) but that doesn't work. Up next is Mary (Rachel McAdams). It takes three meet cutes before Tim and Mary have a life together but Tim's occasional time traveling adventures threaten to mess up their happy home. However, this being a Richard Curtis movie, things turn out all right in the end.

The actors do capable jobs with their material. Domhall Gleeson, who often plays slightly awkward secondary characters, is affable and amusing, but not really leading man material in a romantic comedy. Rachel McAdams plays a part she can probably do in her sleep and, to be truthful, she doesn't bring a lot to the role except a nice smile and a pretty face. Mary isn't much of a character - beyond being Tim's life goal, she's mostly a blank slate. Bill Nighy, as is almost always the case, shamelessly steals scenes. The same is true of Lydia Wilson, who play's Tim's flighty sister, Kit Kat. I don't recall having seen her in anything previously, although I wouldn’t mind additional future exposure. Based on her work here, she seems equally at home with comedy and drama.

Although About Time doesn't work as a whole, there are a few memorable scenes. One that stands out is the first meeting between Tim and Mary, which takes place in a restaurant where everything is in total blackness. Later, there are a few touching moments between Tim and his dad, although the final one ends with an unforgiveable cheat. It's okay for Curtis to want to manipulate the audience but doing it by invalidating his "cardinal rule" is a poor approach.

About Time may work better for those who don't really pay attention to the logic of the narrative. This seems to have been written for those willing to ignore internal inconsistencies and just "go with the flow." The basic framework is about a nerd getting the girl and settling down to have a life with her - solid material for a middling dramatic comedy. It's ironic that the spice Curtis adds to the mix results in a noxious flavor. On the whole, I could see why some might call About Time "pleasant" and "inoffensive." But if Curtis wanted to write a story involving time travel, he should have at least expended the requisite effort to do something that's consistent and makes sense, rather than just making things up as he goes along. Some viewers may not care but, for those who do, it's pretty damn inexcusable.

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By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Like a doggie in a window, this romcom relentlessly wags its tail so you’ll fall in love and take it home. Not this time, puppy. There’s nothing terribly wrong with About Time , it’s just that it rarely rises to its potential. After all, director Richard Curtis is the go-to guy for writing fluff with feeling (see Four Wedding and a Funeral , Notting Hill and the Bill Nighy parts of Love Actually ). But Curtis keeps About Time on simmer for over two hours, losing focus and letting its appeal run off as vapor. Here’s the plot. Goofy, lanky, ginger-haired Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) gets a surprise on his 21st birthday. His dad (Nighy, splendid as usual) tells him the men in the family can act like Bill Murray in the far-superior Groundhog Day , meaning they can go back in time and repeat any day from their past. Nothing too serious, mind you. As dad says, “You can’t kill Hitler or shag Joan of Arc.” For Tim, it’s a chance to perfect his first date with Mary (Rachel McAdams, way underused). What happens next results in such mild surprise that I won’t spoil it for you. But the point is we should enjoy each day as it comes, no manipulation. Why then tease us with time travel for a fortune-cookie life lesson? The actors have charm, but not enough to compensate. The fabled Curtis touch, light and fluid, deserts him this time. Dragged down by whimsy and sentiment, About Time feels like it weighs a ton.

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Movie review: ‘Challengers’ sizzles with bubbling ferocity

By the time Luca Guadagnino’s erotically charged tennis film “Challengers” reaches its breathless, sweaty, pulse-pounding and deeply satisfying climax, you’ll be reaching for a cigarette, so to speak. Rarely is a film so sensorially captivating, every element of cinema, including script, cinematography, editing, score and performance blending together to create such a fizzy, frenzied brew, a chemical reaction of rage and lust sizzling with bubbling ferocity.

“Challengers” is a movie about bodies: sexy, strong, scarred bodies; bodies in glorious motion, crumpling under force, and drawn together over space and time, again and again. During a hard-fought match at a New Rochelle tournament, our players – which include the two men on the court and one woman, spectating on the sidelines – engage in body talk, communicating with gestures, glances, grunts and gasps, expressing what’s been left unsaid between them.

It’s the ultimate example of the concept that tennis isn’t just hitting a ball, it’s a relationship. This bit of wisdom was espoused by teen tennis phenom Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) 13 years prior to this match; now she watches this relationship unfold as two men smash the ball back and forth in front of her. They are her husband, Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), and her ex, Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor). Art is a honed, sculpted god, taped, gelled and optimized under Tashi’s watchful eye; Patrick is a grungy tennis bum, sleeping in his car, scamming sandwiches off sympathetic officials, and places to crash on Tinder. Over the course of each set, we’ll come to understand the complex relationship between this trio.

The script is the debut of playwright and novelist Justin Kuritzkes, who happens to be married to Celine Song, Oscar nominated this year for her debut feature, “Past Lives,” which also features a woman caught between two men, weighing passionate connection against pragmatic concerns. Where Song’s film was about the power and beauty of silence and patience, Kuritzkes’ script is hyperactive, the characters smart, cutting and acerbic, simultaneously deeply romantic and cynical. On a structural level, the screenplay can’t stop moving either. The central tennis match serves as a framing device for a series of flashbacks starting with the characters’ summer before college and covering every angst-ridden tangle in between.

But it’s Guadagnino’s filmmaking that elevates the material to truly transcendent heights. The film is shot with crisp, epic clarity by cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, whose camera continually draws triangles between our players, and collaborates brilliantly with editor Marco Costa, who cuts in time with the throbbing techno score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

The match starts with extreme wide shots, mannered and removed, before the camera swoops in on Tashi as the beat drops, zeroing in on the woman for whom these men have always been competing. But as we come back to the match, again and again, the camera gets closer to Art and Patrick, becoming erratic and experimental. By the end, we’re seeing shots from the point of view of the players, the court and even the ball, wildly flying back and forth across the net, batted around like every person in this triangle has been by the others at some point.

It’s through this tennis metaphor that Kuritzkes and Guadagnino explore the way power, desire and ambition are woven throughout intimate relationships in a fetishistic way. The ruthlessly professional Tashi seems to get off on psychologically and sexually controlling Art and Patrick, which the chaotic Patrick resists and to which Art happily submits. Their marriage is one of his surrender to her wishes as an act of pure love and devotion, even though she is helplessly drawn to Patrick’s dancing, destructive flame. The sexually omnivorous and opportunistic Patrick, for all his indecision, sees the situation clearly, but then again, they all seem to. They just want what they want.

Guadagnino is one of our greatest auteurs of desire, especially the forbidden kind, and “Challengers” is a deeply erotic and sexy movie even though it doesn’t have all that much sex. Like everything else – conversation, arguments, catharsis – the sex is subsumed into tennis. Still, it is an incredibly lusty film, and it’s rare to enjoy this kind of explosive screen chemistry among all three performers.

Faist, who comes from theater and dance, moves with beautiful intention, and Mukdeeprom’s camera regards his every angle with fascination. In contrast, O’Connor embodies the kind of louche, grimy and utterly dangerous sexuality that most women find infuriating and irresistible. Zendaya is as enthrallingly intelligent, mysterious and unpredictable as she has ever been, and it’s easily her best performance.

“Challengers” is the kind of sexy, engrossing somewhat twisted romance we don’t see enough of these days, a thrilling film, thrillingly rendered in its layered storytelling expressed in the purest cinematic form. Take advantage while you can.

Local seed grower grateful to Providence team for stroke care

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‘The Jinx Part Two’ Review: Filmmaking a Murderer

A new installment of HBO’s landmark true-crime documentary continues the strange, sad story of Robert Durst, in which the show is a major player.

By Mike Hale

Nine years after we first heard Robert Durst mutter “Killed them all, of course,” “The Jinx” is back, with a new, six-episode Part Two that premiered Sunday on HBO. And why not?

Maybe it feels unseemly, or like old news, with Durst having died in prison in 2022 after the original series helped convict him of murder. But a lot happened in the meantime. You can imagine that the filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, who directed both parts, felt a responsibility to a story he has now lived with for 20 years. And since “The Jinx” has effectively erased the line between itself and the case it chronicles, you could hope that he felt a responsibility to examine his own role in the prosecution and conviction of Durst , the wealthy and eccentric New York real estate heir.

That examination does not come in the four episodes HBO provided for review, but Jarecki acknowledges the show’s continuing influence in a wry, “Can you believe that happened?” fashion.

It is noted, once again, that in 2013 “Jinx” producers shared with prosecutors evidence regarding the disappearance and two deaths in which Durst was implicated, kick-starting the investigation that led to his conviction and life sentence in 2021 for the murder of his friend Susan Berman. The impact of the original broadcast on the popular imagination is conveyed when a young law clerk recalls exclaiming “Killed them all of course!” at the mention of Durst’s name, quoting his accidentally recorded words from the original series’s chilling final moments .

This theme reaches an early peak in a scene filmed at a screening of that final episode in March 2015 in Jarecki’s apartment, on the same day the fleeing Durst — who had been watching the show along with the rest of us — was found and arrested in New Orleans. Relatives of Durst’s first wife, Kathleen McCormack, who had disappeared 33 years earlier, listen to his apparent confession with remarkable composure, probably acutely aware of the cameras a few feet away waiting to catch their reactions.

That scene, more subdued than you expect it to be, is characteristic of the effect of “The Jinx Part Two,” which is as fluidly and handsomely made as the original but, in the early going, lacks its strangeness and its surprises. Taking place after Durst’s apprehension, the new episodes are largely a law-enforcement procedural and courtroom drama, rather than a twilight-zone exploration of Durst’s life and consciousness. (Durst sat for 20 hours of interviews for the first series, but declined to speak with Jarecki for Part Two.)

Even more constricting is the self-consciousness nearly every character — prosecutor, defense lawyer, witness, journalist, Jarecki himself — brings to the screen. Everyone has seen “The Jinx”; everyone knows how it contributed to Durst’s downfall; everyone is in on the joke. And the wholesale intrusion of the show into its own narrative, while it can be interesting and sometimes amusing, is not, in these episodes, dramatic or moving.

Jarecki addresses this problem in several ways. One is to play up Durst’s comic potential. The oddity that could be creepy and off-putting in the first series plays here, mainly in jailhouse videos, as more childlike and puckish. Durst models his prison uniform for a visitor, or gingerly demonstrates his workout routine. Everyone, including the prosecutors, calls him Bob; clerks relax by listening to his prison phone calls, giggling as each begins, “This is a prepaid call from …” “Bahhhb.”

Another, more central, tactic is a focus on the Durst demimonde — the collection of aspiring scenesters, hangers-on and enablers who agglomerated around him because of his money (with which he could be generous) and the cachet his money conferred. Proclaiming their loyalty, abetting Durst in his machinations, barely suppressing their internecine jealousies and hatreds, and eventually ratting out one another and Durst himself, they provide most of the new installment’s dramatic and emotional high points.

There are aspects of Part Two that are both familiar, in the wake of the original, and formulaic; easing our progress through them is the mastery Jarecki and his crew exercise over their particular brand of true-crime documentary. The melding of informal narration (often by the former New York Times reporter Charles V. Bagli) and live footage with meticulously staged snippets of dramatic re-creation is seamless. The material may not be as absorbing as that of the original, but the editing still gives it a pace and style that could be called rigorously hypnotic.

With HBO having held back two episodes (in 2015 it held back four), there is the chance that Part Two will supply a surprise of the magnitude of Durst’s seeming confession, though it’s hard to see how. We can assume that the last two episodes will include Durst’s testimony at the Berman trial, and the playing of the “Killed them all” tape for the jury. Perhaps we will see Jarecki’s unsuccessful attempt to talk to Durst outside a Louisiana prison, which he filmed with his phone. Perhaps we will hear Jarecki say something more introspective about the impact of the show. In any case, it seems almost certain that we will be back here in six weeks, talking about “The Jinx.”

Mike Hale is a television critic for The Times. He also writes about online video, film and media. More about Mike Hale

‘The Three Musketeers – Part II: Milady’ Review: Eva Green Surprises in French Blockbuster’s Less-Than-Faithful Finale

As in Richard Lester's two-part 1970s adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel, the villainous Milady takes the spotlight in the second half, though this time, the film inventively strays from the source.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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For readers of Alexandre Dumas’ novel, extravagant French adaptation “ The Three Musketeers – Part II: Milady” packs its share of surprises: killing off important characters, sparing others and reimagining allegiances that have stood for nearly two centuries. For viewers of “Part I: D’Artagnan,” however, this swashbuckling sequel feels totally in keeping with what came before. Even the twists track, paying off what amounts to a nearly four-hour investment (not counting however many months audiences may have waited to see how the story ends).

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Bourboulon isn’t the first filmmaker to split Dumas’ novel down the middle. Half a century earlier, Richard Lester directed back-to-back features, dubbed “The Three Musketeers” and “The Four Musketeers” — though the latter was rechristened “They Call Her Milady” (“On l’appelait Milady”) in France, suggesting a precedent for accentuating Green’s character in the second half. She’s an infinitely more interesting source of obsession for D’Artagnan than Constance, who comes across as beatifically banal as played by Khoudri here. That in turn makes D’Artagnan’s efforts to rescue her seem rather uninspired, as if he could be doing something better with his time — like lusting after Milady.

In this telling, Constance stumbled upon the perpetrators of the plot to assassinate the king just before the first part ended, which at least imbues the character with a certain value. Still, it’s far more exciting to see D’Artagnan and Milady together, as they are early on, fighting side by side for a change. Bourboulon’s big innovation in these films can be seen in his action sequences, which typically unfold via elaborate oners — dynamic set-pieces designed to look as though they were captured in a single unbroken shot.

During an early escape, the camera chases after D’Artagnan, running along the lofty fortress parapet. When the young hero finds himself cornered, the lensman plunges right behind brave D’Artagnan into the moat. The effect is far more immersive than most adventure movies, which use quick cutting to place viewers in the fray. The way DP Nicolas Bolduc shoots these well-choreographed, minimally edited sequences, we feel like participants in the action, as in a knife fight that comes just a few scenes later, where the nimble camera is at knee level when D’Artagnan drives a blade through his opponent’s leg.

The other musketeers have less to do this time around, though each remains sworn to protecting the honor of others. Porthos has fallen in love with Aramis’ sister, Mathilde (Camille Rutherford), and together the two confront the cad who took advantage of her. In a rather confusing (but nonetheless exciting) subplot, Athos risks his life to rescue a comrade strapped to a wooden cross. He too has unfinished business with Milady — which remains the case all the way to the end, suggesting a thread that could inspire an off-canon “Part III,” should Bourboulon care to continue the epic.

Stateside, subtitles tend to relegate movies to art-houses, where the kind of young audiences most likely to appreciate such showy theatrics rarely set foot. Like last year’s “Napoleon,” this is megaplex entertainment at its most grand. Still, it would take some clever marketing to transform this import into a “Parasite”-style phenomenon, even if both well-made offerings have the same quality: They fill an entertainment niche that American movies have all but abdicated.

Reviewed online, Dec. 19, 2023. Running time: 121 MIN. (Original title: “Les trois mousquetaires: Milady”)

• Production: (France-Germany-Spain-Belgium) A Samuel Goldwyn Films (in U.S.), Pathé (in France) release of a Dimitri Rassam, Jérôme Seydoux presentation of a Chapter 2, Pathé Films, M6 Films production, in co-production with Constantin Films Produktion, ZDF, Deaplaneta, UMedia, with the participation of OCS, Canal+, M6, in association with Ufund, with the support of La Région Île-de-France, La Région Bretagne in partnership with the CNC, BNP Paribas. (World sales: Pathé, Paris.) Producer: Dimitri Rassam. Co-producer: Ardavan Safaee.
• Crew: Director: Martin Bourboulon. Screenplay: Matthieu Delaporte & Alexandre de La Patellière, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Camera: Nicolas Bolduc. Editor: Célia Lafitedupont. Music: Guillaume Roussel.
• With: François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Marmaï, Eva Green, Louis Garrel, Vicky Krieps, Lyna Khoudri, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Éric Ruf, Marc Barbé, Patrick Mille, Julien Frison. (French dialogue)

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