Before I went into the screening of the romantic comedy About Time, I stood in line for my free
popcorn (Big Screen Club membership has its privileges, as does frequent movie attendance).
The man ahead of me in line was in full biker gear—leather jacket, leather pants,
bandana tied around his long brown hair. I might add that he smelled very good—brought
me back to high school when all the Yuppie businessmen would come into the dry cleaners
where I worked with their power suits, starched shirts and high-end cologne. But
I digress.
I spent a moment or two debating what movie he was there for—Thor? Captain Phillips? Something manly for certain. And then, as I sat
in the theater waiting for the previews to begin, he entered to sit by himself.
I totally did not see that coming. Audiences often match the movie—at Short Term 12, there were several men in
their mid 20s to mid 30s. Captain Phillips
was populated by many older viewers, a few sporting baseball caps of their
favorite armed services. I’m often the one who doesn’t fit whichever formula
the movie calls for, so it shouldn’t surprise me when someone else breaks the
mold!
Luckily for my husband, a friend showed up to watch with me
and saved me from throwing myself at my fine-smelling biker friend who likes
romantic comedies.
So, about that movie. About
Time is from Richard Curtis, the writer/director of Love
Actually, which is one of the reasons I wanted to see it. Romance, humor,
schmaltz. I like it.
About Time is not
as schmaltzy as Love Actually. It’s
also a tad less funny and romantic. There is a similar spattering of odd
characters, but this story sticks to the same characters instead of jumping
from story to story.
On the occasion of his 21st birthday, Tim’s
father (played by the always funny Bill Nighy) tells him that the men in his
family can time travel. They can’t go any further than their own lives, and
they can’t go into the future, so they won’t be saving JFK or stopping Hitler.
Of course Tim doesn’t believe his father, but he gives it a try and finds out
it’s true.
Predictably, he tries to use this to his romantic advantage,
first with a friend of his sister, and later with a more serious relationship,
rewinding to take another stab at first impressions. My companion and I agreed
that we would never get past the first week, constantly second guessing
everything we’d said and done, trying to make it perfect. And you can’t help
but wonder what we learn from the mistakes we make and the consequences of
them. If we never had to live with the consequences, would we really learn and
make emotional progress?
Eventually, Tim wants to use his powers for more serious
issues. For a while I felt like the movie was meandering. I couldn’t figure out
where it was going. But I found the last third of the movie wholly satisfying
as it made its point, as you may have guessed, about time, and our uses of it. While we don't all get to relive our favorite moments, we can be looking for the beauty of it all while we can.
You can probably wait for this to come out on DVD; you won’t
lose anything in the translation to the smaller screen. And, like Love Actually, it’s not for family movie
night, since the young man’s romantic escapades could make for some awkward
moments.
If you do go see it at the theater, and you are of the more
emotional persuasion, bring some Kleenex and possibly some dark glasses.
No comments:
Post a Comment