“About Time”: Written and Directed by Richard Curtis, the creator or “Love Actually” and “Notting Hill”

Posted on February 20, 2014

I watched “About Time” for free at Watch32.com  It was one of those nights when I wake up in the middle of my sleep and find difficulty going back. So, I realized this was actually a perfect opportunity for me to catch up with my viewing needs. I am a sucker for Romance and everything that has it. I was that little girl who wished upon a star for a prince charming, the young lady who prayed for someone who will sweep me off my feet and I am that woman who loves flowers more than anything else as a gift from the guy I love; since I do believe that the most valuable gift is the memory and the feeling of Romance. Enough said about me. This article is really about the movie that caught my attention knowing that it was written and directed by the same person who did “Notting Hill” and that is none other than the great Richard Curtis.

It all begins with Tim. He stays with his family in a home away from the hustle and bustle of city life. He enjoys the company of his father, sister, uncle and mother even though they’re a little bit rough around the edges, he certainly loved how they would do their routines everyday on the same time and on the same places; for me they are the perfect picture of a happy family. Tim is a quiet one and just by looking at him you can tell that he is that type of guy who’s too shy to do anything to a girl at all. He easily gets nervous around pretty women and never had a girlfriend at the age of 21.

When he reached this controversial age, the morning after he was summoned by his father for a very important conversation. He found it awkward that his dad was too serious and a bit jumpy about something that he was about to know that very moment. Since Mr. Lake didn’t have any other way to put it, he told Tim with no holding back that men of their family gains the ability to travel time upon reaching the age of 21. Tim was in shock, he didn’t believe it at all. But as a son knowing his own father, he surely knows that his dad was not joking so he asked him how does it happen if it were true and how far can he travel back to time. His started answering his questions; 1. You can only go back as far as what you can remember and only to the places you’ve been; 2. To travel, you must go to a dark room, close your eyes and clench your fist tightly as you try to remember the time you wanted to go back to.

The very first thing that he did was to try it out. He, right there and then went up to his closet and thought of that New Year’s Eve when his nerves got the best of him and wasn’t able to kiss a young lady that he danced with that night. He got there, kissed and went back. He can’t believe what just happened. The first question that his dad ask him was what does Tim wants out of his Time Traveling? With no doubt, he answered: “I want to get myself a girlfriend”.  I remember Tim thinking out loud that for him it was really all about love; the attraction, the pursuit and all the memories that he wanted to make with that very special person he would end up growing old with.

From that very moment, he did bits of experimentation with his time traveling and tried testing it to get girls be interested in him; it turned out that it was as hard even with time travel. When he decided to start a Law firm career, he went to London to find a new path or maybe with a little bit of luck, also the right girl for him. One night, he went into one of those unique restaurants called a “Dans Le Noir”, a chain of restaurants and spas where guests are served in total darkness, a concept called dark dining or blind dining.  There, the magic happened, even in total darkness Mary and Tim were able to connect, chat and throw jokes at each other. The moment that dinner was over, Tim went out and waited excitedly hoping for a pretty lady to come out and be the Mary that he met inside. Luckily for him, Mary was everything he hoped for and more. I honestly felt butterflies in my stomach because this is my favorite part of all love stories, Isn’t it that when we see two people in love we always ask them first; “So how did you too meet?”. No matter what happens, any person will remember and will always go back to how everything started and I honestly am very fond of it myself.

Tim was floating among the clouds and with no doubt has fallen madly in love with Mary during their first meet even without the first sight. But on the latter part of the movie, he experiences challenges because his attempt to help other people is causing some undesirable consequences; like, if he was to go back before the time he actually met Mary, it would be as if he didn’t meet her at all which creates frustration and determination to redo things  and finally have Mary fall in love to him all over again. It was tough for Tim but he saw through. They started living together in one apartment and one day Mary told Tim that her parents are visiting and it was on that same morning that she just told him. Good thing he had the power to travel time, because if not oh my I can only imagine what would’ve happened because Tim is not really good at leaving positive first impressions.

They enjoyed being together everyday, every moment and every second of their lives, it was the biggest dream come true for Tim. I must say, this film is really good since at the time, I found myself smiling and feeling happy as if I actually knew Tim and Mary in person. They married on a rainy afternoon on the backyard lawn of Tim’s home and held a very interesting ceremony since it poured heavy rains that day and everybody were really wet. It was a wonderful wedding since it did exceed all expectations of an ordinary one. Then, not long enough they had “Posy”; their first born baby girl. Upon being blessed with Posy in their lives, she was able to bring more happiness to Tim and Mary than they already have with each other. However it may seem that life is so perfect, but sometimes destiny comes back right up and hits life in the face with disasters.

Kitty, Tim’s younger sister had a car accident after getting into a fight with her boyfriend on her way to Posy’s birthday celebration. Upon knowing, Tim was snapped out of bliss and attended to Kitty with regret and guilt thinking that he might’ve not paid more attention to her and he missed that Kitty was actually having some serious problems with her boyfriend. During these times, Tim wasn’t using much of his time travel anymore since everything laid out perfectly for him, Mary and Posy until what happened to Kitty. So he opted to go back in time and help Kitty not know the guy at all and that meant going back to the same New Year’s Eve when Tim kissed a girl for the first time. When he went back, he was so surprised that he didn’t have Posy anymore but a different baby boy. He was deeply saddened by this and consulted his dad about it right after he knew. So his frustrations about the consequences of Time Travel is happening all over again and it was affecting his own family. He eventually managed to get Posy and everything else back to shape again until one day the big news came about his dad’s health condition.

There were exchanges of time travels between Tim and his Dad after learning the latter’s condition, back and forth they go until they both had the courage to enjoy the remaining time his Dad left to live with. They had very meaningful conversations, the ones that only a Father and Son have. I felt the grief and pain of  Tim as he slowly bids goodbye to the greatest man he knew. As a final advice, his dad said “Live life one day at a time.” And so Tim did. Slowly after his father’s death he slowly grew out of fixing things by time traveling and enjoyed every single day that he is having with the people he loves most—-His Family.

I personally thank Richard Curtis for writing this great story of life and love with the twist of time travel as it gives and reminds people those of which has the most value and those that we need to put focus and priority on. This is a must see movie and for those who hasn’t seen it yet, your just a few clicks away from watching it yourself for free. Watch out for more movie reviews coming soon.