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ABOUT TIME the 2013 Movie on on BLU RAY
"…Big Cupboards Are Very Useful…"
"…Big Cupboards Are Very Useful…"
Richard Curtis' Sixth Film "About Time" (2012) opens with a
killer monologue that establishes Tim’s largely crackpot family living out an
all weathers idealized existence in a house by the sea in Cornwall. Book-loving
table-tennis playing Father and unsentimental solid Mum are portrayed by the
formidable British talent of Bill Nighy and Lindsay Duncan - while Tim’s
scatological but adorable sister Catherine (nicknamed Kit Kat) kisses her equally
absent-minded Uncle Desmond on the cheeks at every possible opportunity (lovely
work by Lydia Wilson and Richard Cordery). But then Tim ("too skinny…too
ginger…") gets called into Dad’s library on his 21st birthday to be
told the big secret – all the males in the family can travel back in time to
their own past and alter/relive it (you can’t shag Helen of Troy unfortunately
– too far back - damn). All you need to do is to find a dark place somewhere
(dialogue above), clench your fists, think about the time and place you want to
be – and boom - you’re suddenly there.
At first Tim uses this newfound tool to fix his nerd-like
behaviour with Polly in a New Year’s Eve Party blunder (a midnight kiss he
should have engaged in first time around) and second - he deftly rubs suntan lotion
into the bikinied-back of the visiting American lustbucket Charlotte (the
stunning Margot Robbie) instead of spilling it all over her like a twat. But
then Tim twigs that he can use his cupboard jaunts to get to his real quest –
the 'motherlode' – love. And after he meets the magical American girl Mary (Rachel McAdams) in
the London cellar of a blind person's café – Tim (Brendan Gleeson’s son
Domhnall Gleeson) realizes that this woman is his future and must bend all
things (including time) to that purpose. And on it goes to moving in, marriage,
children, car-crash scares with sister Kit Kat and medical problems with a father
who can manipulate the clock too but not outrun it…
This is Richard Curtis so when "About Time" is funny – it’s
blindingly so. Tom Hollander’s character Harry gets the lion’s share of great
lines. Blocked writer and perpetual curmudgeon Harry points to a picture - "This
is my daughter. Would you like to have sex with her? Apparently everyone else
has…" As his new much-anticipated West End Play bombs because two huge stage
actors go dry – Tim nips back in time and 'does' both so that they remember
their lines and 'genius' appears in the newspaper reviews instead of 'disaster
of Titanic proportions' (short but priceless cameos from Richard Griffiths and
Richard E Grant). And of course there's the music score with beautifully chosen
songs by Paul Buchanan of The Blue Nile and members of The Waterboys busking on
the London underground. All seems well – all the boxes are ticked - but then
there are those one-too-many 1 to 4 star reviews for this movie – some even loathing
it from a height.
“About Time” has its problems for sure…about half way
through - the endless ducking back in time starts to become tedious (more than
a passing resemblance to "Groundhog Day") and the story gets darker to a point
where it doesn’t seem to know what it is anymore. And all too many scenes feature tea
by the beach and skimming stones and pretty London locations that no mere
mortal can afford. Worse – its hard to believe the dweeb lead would ever score
a babe like Mary or Charlotte in the real world (so credibility is stretched
throughout) and all those clunky nerd mannerisms that once seemed so endearing start
to irritate instead of please. But – and this is again a Richard Curtis film –
there’s truly beautiful and touching scenes in amongst all the forced madcap –
moments with his sister and father – moments with his children – moments with
his friend Rory (Joshua McGuire) where he savours life and all that surrounds
them instead of being too busy to notice it…
Defaulted to 1080p Widescreen 2.40:1 - there are bars above
and below – but even stretched the picture quality is really lovely - especially
on the coastal home scenes and the night locations in the West End. Audio
channels are English DTS-HD 5.1, French, Italian, German, Spanish DTS Surround
5.1 and finally English Audio Description 2.0. Subtitles include English SDH,
French, Italian, German, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian,
Portuguese, Swedish and Arabic.
The extras are impressive and very enjoyable:
1. Four Deleted Scenes with introductions by
Richard Curtis
2. Blooper Reels: Making Movies Is A Serious Business
3. About Tim and Time Travel
4. The World Of Richard Curtis
5. "The Luckiest" Music (a short piece about Ben Folds and his new
version of the song)
6. Ellie Goulding “How Long Will I Love You” Video
7. Feature-length commentary with Director Richard
Curtis and Actors Domhnall Gleeson, Bill Nighy, Vanessa Kirby (who plays Joanna
– Mary’s friend), Lydia Wilson and Tom Hollander
"Four Weddings And A Funeral", "Notting Hill", "Bridget
Jone's Diary", "The Boat That Rocked" and especially "Love Actually" – I'd say that’s a
pretty impressive run. I don’t know if "About Time" will get the repeated
viewings those illustrious predecessors do – but it has more real charm in it than most trite rom-coms and the theme of his father's love and loss
moved me more than I care to admit to.
There are some who see Richard Curtis and his writing as a
Great British National Treasure. Well I'm Irish and I'd be one of them. Spend a
few hours with "About Time" – it will reward you for doing so…
