5. About Time (2013)

I just didn't want it to end. There was something so beautiful looking at this single man’s life as he experienced and witnessed love, death, and birth. As boring as that may sound, life does become very interesting when this particular man can travel back in time and fix all his blunders or help others’ mistakes.

The film mainly revolves around Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) – a self-proclaimed awkward lawyer who just wants a girlfriend. And he is determined to use his special power to get a girlfriend. But just when he thinks he has found Mary (Rachel McAdams) – the girl of his dreams – he decides to travel back in time to help a struggling playwright save his play from being ripped apart by critics. Due to this, suddenly Mary becomes someone he has never met, and Tim begins to realize what consequences these powers might give him. As he sees his loved ones struggle in pain, he slowly realizes that perhaps time travelling can’t solve everything.

Yes, the movie ultimately ends with a montage of scenes and a carefully crafted “life lesson” quote that is explicitly read out before the credits start rolling. But don’t let this seemingly cliché quality turn you away. The movie does a flawless job bringing the audience alongside Tim as he struggles with his ability that the ending scene just seems repetitive.

Too often have movies cared about making the film realistic that they end up sacrificing plot development. About Time thankfully dodges this trap. There was barely any screentime used in explaining the origins of time-traveling power. The way it worked was hilariously simple (“go to a dark place, clench your fists, and think back to a time”). And Bill Nighy, who plays “Dad,” was the perfect choice for someone who can explain this ridiculous concept so effortlessly and convincingly with a twinkle in his eye. It was this simplification that enabled the movie to gracefully immersed the audience into the drama and set aside the technological absurdity.

Still, About Time was riddled with plot holes that may have annoyed some and brought them back to reality. One caveat behind the time-traveling ability is that no one can trael back before someone’s birth without altering the future completely. We see Tim learn this the hard way when his baby literally changes gender after a particular blast to the past. Later on the movie, Tim and his dad share a very tear-jerking moment as they walk along the beach. This scene is technically before the birth of many people in their lives, but they return with no consequences. Scenes like this may break the flow, but the audience may be more forgiving as these inconsistencies highlight the drama.

About Time is definitely a movie I will watch again. And there are definitely phrases and parts that will only be recognized on a repeat viewing (the movie starts out by describing his father as “eternally available for a leisurely chat”). Perhaps this film might just seem boring to some because it just deals with plain old life, but it is undeniable that Richard Curtis has done a fantastic job in portraying life’s good and bad and introducing a philosophy to live by for the audience.