About Time (2013): A Review

In keeping with my theme of trying to enjoy life to the fullest, I thought I'd publish a review of a movie I saw recently: About Time, starring Rachel McAdams, Domnhall Gleeson, and Bill Nighy. I know it came out a long time ago (around the time I first visited Westmont, actually) but I kept putting off seeing it. There were a couple of reasons for this, the primary one being that I thought it was going to be a cheesy love story that made me puke a little bit in my mouth. Spoiler Alert: I couldn't have been more wrong.

At first glance, it seems to be a kitschy movie about a twenty-something guy who discovers he can time travel, and uses his new-found powers to have sex with women multiple times over. This is all true, but it's also a whole lot more. After having several meets-cute with Mary (Rachel McAdams), Tim (Domnhall Gleeson) finally gets her to go out with him, beginning a whirlwind romance complicated by his inability to function in social situations, his sister's substance abuse, and his father's terminal illness.

I loved this movie from start to finish. It was extremely easy to relate to Tim, as awkward as he is. It was also great fun to yell at the TV when he made monumentally stupid decisions, then sigh in relief when he went back and fixed them. I confess, my favorite part of the movie was that it wasn't a romance. At least, not really. Though his and Mary's relationship had all the hallmarks of a great romantic comedy, it was Tim's relationship with his father (Bill Nighy) that seemed to be the point of the movie. Their devotion to one another, expressed in awkward ways, is the most memorable, and by far the most touching, part of the film.

Yet, as if the romantic-comedy/family drama wasn't perfect enough, there was an inspiring message at the end of it all. Despite being able to time travel and redo the same moments over and over again, Tim ultimately learns that the point of life isn't to keep trying, in the hopes of finding good in life--the point is to find the good in every single moment, the first time.

Rating: 9/10

Favorite Quote:

And in the end I think I've learned the final lesson from my travels in time, and I've even gone one step further than my father did. The truth is I now don't travel back at all, not even for the day. I just try to live every day as if I've deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it, as if it was the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life. (Source: IMDb)