Friday, January 17, 2014

Review: About Time

Review: About Time
*Spoilers Alert
  Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.


Official 'About Time' Poster.
      'About Time' is a romantic comedy that includes science fiction elements to it, which allowed many fans of both genres to ultimately enjoying a well crafted movie.

"Domhnall Gleeson".
"Rachel McAdams".
      Awkward 21 year old 'Tim Lake'(Domhnall Gleeson) learns life-changing news from his father 'James Lake'(Bill Nighy), that the men of his family are able to travel in time between the present and the past but not into the future. He is also informed that each men of his family used this special gift for a special purpose, while 'James' used it to get as much knowledge from books as he could, 'Tim' decides to use this power to find love. After moving from his parent's home into London, he soon meets his soul mate 'Mary'(Rachel McAdams). But he will soon find out that this power isn't always going to be a blessing, and that sometimes it will make his life even more difficult. And he will learn that changing a small thing in the past could lead to major changes. Other characters include 'Kit Kat'(Lydia Wilson) 'Tim''s sister, 'Mary Lake'(Lindsay Ducan) 'Tim''s mother, 'Harry'(Tom Hollander) 'Tim''s new roommate and an aspiring writer, 'Joanna'(Vanessa Kirby) 'Mary''s best friend, 'Charlotte'(Margot Robbie) 'Tim''s first crush, 'Jimmy'(Tom Hughes) 'Kit Kat''s boyfriend, 'Jay'(Will Merrick) 'Tim''s best friend and 'Rory'(Joshua McGuire) 'Tim''s colleague in law school.

"Tom Hollander".
"Billy Nighy".
      Science fiction fans may be a little bit bewildered by this movie. If people want to identify this movie genre, they would identify it as a romantic comedy movie. But there are many sci-fi and time travel elements that are the core of the movie. Yes these fans will like some of the fun twists that this element has, but they will also notice the various holes that this element brings to the movie. This science fiction element of the movie is what keeps it holding but it isn't the main idea. Family, love, friendship and life struggles are the themes that will make audiences like the movie. But the nice flair and edge that time travelling infuses the movie made people want to go and look at what such movie could offer.

"Lydia Wilson" and
"Margot Robbie".
"Domhnall Gleeson" and
"Billy Nighy".
      "Richard Curtis", who is mainly known for directing 'Love Actually', is first of all known as a writer. But the nice flair that he brought to 'Love Actually' was equally brought to this movie as well. But his expertise in directing the 'Doctor Who' episode 'Vincent and the Doctor', which had time travelling idea in it, definitely helped him infuse that element to the movie. Though “Curtis"'s main concern for the majority of the movie was the emotions and relationships of the characters. He also penned the screenplay, which is basically a very beautiful story but included major plot holes that were being covered by the emotional scenes of the movie. "Nick Laid-Clowes”, known as the lead singer of The Dream Academy and for composing the score of 'Battle of Haditha', for the most part did a good job helping the movie bring forward the emotions the movie wanted to convey.

"Domhnall Gleeson" and
"Rachel McAdams".
"Domhnall Gleeson" and
"Rachel McAdams".
      The time frame of the movie was a bit too long. Many scenes in my opinion should have been trimmed out of the final cut, since at certain instances during the movie monotone might be felt. The flow of the movie was smooth and the pace was acceptable. My favorite parts of the movie was the first part, during which we are still establishing who 'Tim' is and the last part, when 'Tim' realizes how he must uses his powers. The favorite scenes of the movie were when 'Tim' used his power to redo things that he flopped in, and it was extremely funny to watch a certain scene being done over and over again, each time differently. The most emotional scene of all was at the end of the movie between 'Tim' and 'James'. Another favorite scene was that of the wedding, where the director, along with the editor and cinematographer, brought us a very beautifully shot sequence.

"Margot Robbie".
"Domhnall Gleeson" and
"Billy Nighy".
      "Domhnall Gleeson" is mainly known for his role 'Bill Weasley' in the 'Harry Potter' franchise. He successfully made the audience witness the growth that his character throughout the movie, and his acting skilled really showed when revisiting scenes over and over again. "Rachel McAdams" these days is the queen of romance, and in this movie she showed why she is definitely a superb actress. And her ability to create exceptional yet different type of chemistry with her fellow actors shows her profound abilities. "Billy Nighy" performs when needed, and casting him was spot on. "Tom Hollander" delivers hilarious comedic moments during the film. "Lydia Wilson" and "Lindsay Ducan" successfully delivers with the limited baggage that there characters had. As for the remaining actors and actresses, "Vanessa Kirby", "Margot Robbie", "Tom Hughes", "Will Merrick" and "Joshua McGuire", supports the main cast in a commendable manner. Its worth mentioning that this movie was the last movie of "Richard Griffiths"'s career, in which he appeared in a cameo appearance in the first act of the movie.

      'About Time' was included in many Best Films lists, and the reasons are obvious. It may not be a complete movie, but it is certainly an enjoyable one.

'About Time'.
-'About Time' Info:
-Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Billy Nighy, Lydia Wilson, Lindsay Duncan, Tom Hollander, Vanessa Kirby, Margot Robbie, Tom Hughes, Will Merrick, Joshua McGuire and Richard Griffiths.
-Studio(s): Working Title Films, Relativity Media and Universal Pictures.
-Directed by: Richard Curtis.
-Written by: Richard Curtis.
-Music by: Nick Laird-Clowes.
-Running Time: 123 minutes.
-Budget: $ 12,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 15,322,921.
                   -Foreign: $ 71,777,528.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 7.8/10.
               -Rotten Tomatoes: 69%.
               -Metacritic: 55%.

               -PERSONAL RATING: 7.5/10.

-'About Time' Trailer:


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