I am an ardent fan of the cinematic arts. Although I have certain genre preferences, I don’t let that stifle my curiosity and close myself to different flavors of entertainment. That said...I am a huge fan of science fiction, super hero and action movies! Please visit my other blog The Boxed Office for reviews, exclusively, on these types of movies.
The Cast:
Domhnall Gleeson plays Tim, red-haired and eager for a girlfriend, but lacking the skill to make his desire reality. Turning twenty-one and learning the family secret gives him hope that his circumstances will change. Gleeson is excellent in pulling off the awkward, yet sincere, role of a man looking for love and trying to help those he loves. Rachel McAdams plays Tim’s wife Mary, and compliments Gleeson very well. Bill Nighy is excellent as the father passing on the family secret, enjoying life and ultimately personifying a father’s love for his son.
The Plot:
Tim has just turned twenty-one and inherited the family secret. The males in his family have the ability to travel back in time. Of course the revelation of this news from his father is taken quite lightly at first, but Tim soon discovers that it is indeed a serious development.
Tim decides that with his newfound abilities, he will achieve the one desire that has been eluding him…a girlfriend. Unfortunately, he learns fairly quickly that time travel will not make a girl like you. That said, it can be used to make a favorable impression on a girl that is already interested…or at least open to being interested.
After Tim meets Mary, he sets out to win her heart, and seems to have plenty of time to do it. Eventually Mary becomes the girlfriend Tim has always wished to have and as far as dreams go, don’t get much better than when they get married.
Along the way, Tim learns some very important limitations to his power as he tries to help those closest to him when they are in need, and only a quick jaunt through time seems to be the remedy.
As life moves forward, Tim is faced with life situations that even time cannot fix, and learns some of the most important lessons, about love and family, that only living life can teach. What follows is a film that tickles the soul and touches the heart in a profoundly rare way.
The Verdict:
This is one of the best films I have ever seen. I know that’s a terrible way to lead off the verdict, as there is no build up…but I want you to see this film as quickly as possible as it was a complete surprise to me that it would be so funny and moving.
The film doesn’t rest its weight on time traveling, but instead uses it as simply a way to advance the story and get its message across. That message is peppered with some very funny scenes and situations that reflect the witty mind of the writer and add a comedic element that perfectly offset some of the more serious parts that inevitably come in a film about living life and dealing with everything it throws at you.
The film also opens up the mind to the possibilities presented to us every day, but in a way that conveys the idea that a “do over” isn’t always what we think it would be, and probably very rarely what we think it should be. Life is unscripted, and the idea that this film can present it otherwise speaks volumes…especially when that presentation reveals and reinforces the fact, that life is unscripted.
I was unsure of this film, but intrigued enough by the time travel aspect to give it a try. Not sure that it would be my cup of tea, I am elated I gave it a shot as it went back in time, and delivered four cinnamon sticks, out of five…and generated a flavor that can only be described as one of the best.
Rating 4/5
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