Slushy ‘About Time’ Still Says All You Need is Love

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Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Writer/Director Richard Curtis is somewhat of a love guru. Fresh on the heels of the tenth anniversary of what is now his classic Christmas movie, “Love Actually,” comes his latest ode to amore. It’s about life, passion and – oh yeah – a little time travel. It’s “About Time.”

This effort isn’t as cohesive as “Love Actually” but it still has that gooey center. To recall, “Love Actually” had some bitterness with its Christmas cheer. “About Time” doesn’t have as sharp a counterpoint – it’s mostly gooey center and that can get a bit messy. Yes, there is time travel, but it’s the most selfish time travel available – it’s all about the traveler and not the time. Period jumping is an old science fiction conceit, and in most hands fairly interesting (“Back to the Future,” “Star Trek IV”). The type of time travel in “About Time” is not interesting, even when it’s attached to a conclusive moral fiber. However, it does communicate the subtle emotion of love with vigor and sincerity, and manages a few smiles along the way.

Tim (Domhnail Gleeson) is an awkward 21 year old British man. He laments never having been in love to that point in his life, and even is clueless when gals flirt his way. Everything changes when his father (Bill Nighy) tells him that the men in his family have the power to time travel once they reach 21, but only to the past, and can live any day over again within their lifetime. This information affects him greatly, and his existence takes a spinning turn.

The Goo in the Two: Mary (Rachel McAdams) and Tim (Domhnail Gleeson) in ‘About Time’ Photo credit: Universal Pictures

He begins work as a lawyer in London. He meets a woman named Mary (Rachel McAdams), who loves model Kate Moss and gives him her number. However, Tim goes back in time and changes a circumstance, which causes their meeting to had not happened. He then has to bend the space/time continuum in complex ways to win her back. Their subsequent relationship is punctuated by Tim’s adventures on the timeline, but the lessons he learns go beyond the power to travel, upward to the power of love.

It’s squishy and mushy, but maybe it’s impossible to penetrate the cynical world with any love story these days. At least this love story does have a hook, but Domhnail Gleeson as Tim is so moony and swoony that the gag reflex can’t help but tense. Unfortunately Rachel McAdams doesn’t help, she was playing outside her range with Mary, especially when it came to sex and seduction. The writer/director Richard Curtis does recruit actor Bill Nighy – who stole “Love Actually” – as Dad, and his snorting laugh at least modifies his screen son’s slushy countenance.

There is direct references to British author Charles Dickens in the story, and the overall tale does have some Dickens-esque touches – the mother character (Lindsay Duncan) is sharply drawn, the daughter named Kit Kat (Lydia Wilson) is a flightly twit and there is an Uncle D (Richard Cordery), whose flummox-y nature is straight out of Fezziwig in “A Christmas Carol.” They all add a bit of eccentricity to the perfect couple love story, but their quirks also can be annoying.

The use of time travel is frustrating at times, almost parlor tricky. The Bill Nighy Dad lays down the rules, and of course you can’t go back and kill Hitler. But it does lead to thinking that the world had changed so much after 2001, that wouldn’t it had been nice to maybe make a phone call or two on September 10th, instead of going back to introduce yourself ten times to a girl? Maybe not.

Time Bandits: Tim and Dad (Bill Nighy) Ponder a Move in ‘About Time’ Photo credit: Universal Pictures

But there is redemption and the love feeling does flow from the careful result of Tim’s travels. There is a lesson that even a man that controls time can’t control the organic mistakes that other humans make, or colds that they catch. He can learn about himself, though, and the people around him. If that leads to more of an appreciation or a richer emotional experience, so be it. The film does capture all of that in between the mush, it’s a bit like reading between the lines.

It’s a difficult legacy that Richard Curtis must live up to, since he completely created “Love Actually.” That film was nearly perfect, and without that comparison hanging over it, “About Time” may have become as cult-like as the previous love story. It just didn’t have enough juice, and the switch is never flipped.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com