About Time (2013)

4.9/5

About Time is billed as a romantic comedy in the same vein as Notting Hill and Love Actually (appropriately so, since they were all written and directed by Richard Curtis). And while it is a remarkably affecting and effective romantic comedy, it is so much more than that. Curtis spends equal amounts of time on romantic love and familial love, on joy and sorrow, on birth and death. It is a grand opera, with equal parts comedy and tragedy, but it never loses sight of the individual. It captures life's little moments, as experienced by a hopeless romantic, and lets us treasure them.

On his 21st birthday, Tim (Gleeson) is told by his father (Nighy) that he has the ability to travel back in time. After a chance meeting with Mary (McAdams), he believes he has found true love. But he later undoes the entire encounter by accident when trying to fix another friend's problem. And so he begins to understand the true nature and the dramatic consequences of his newfound power.

Domhnall Gleeson is absolutely astonishing, bringing an instant charm and vulnerability to the screen. He is the beating heart of the movie and he knocks it out of the park. Rachel McAdams is, most surprisingly, the frumpiest she's ever been in a movie--and she plays it extraordinarily well. I cannot think of a more comforting or attractive version of her than in this movie. Nighy shows his veteran chops, being both stoic and drained, loving and firm. His life story is written in his small actions, his posture, his tone. The cast has an extraordinary chemistry that is nearly impossible to replicate. This movie must have been as magical to make as it feels to watch.

About Time is a whirlwind of emotion. It yanks at the heartstrings in just the right amounts, without feeling melodramatic or manipulative. There is a rare humanity that ebbs beneath every scene and fills the movie with empathy. This is about love, about growing up, about changing but being true to yourself. There are some sappy parts, for sure, and parts that defy the movie's own time travel logic, but they never hamper your enjoyment of the film. It's a movie made for the gut, not the head, and it hits its mark perfectly. About Time is a special movie and one that I plan on enjoying again and again.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194499/

Anna Karenina (2012)

3/5

Joe Wright's Anna Karenina is a stunning reinterpretation of the Tolstoy novel. No, I haven't read the book, but I imagine it doesn't all take place within a theater. And I'll bet money that it doesn't contain some of the most gorgeous, luscious cinematography ever laid to film. So for that, I must give Joe Wright credit, as he has once again constructed a visual masterpiece. But unfortunately that is where the accolades must end.

I really didn't think there was much here. It's not deep, it's not profound. It's not even a love story. It's basically a story of a selfish person with no self-control in a society whose rules are not so different from our own. Like I said, I haven't read the book, but I imagine it's not as famous as it is unless it contained a little more depth than what I was able to extract here. The acting, the story, and the pacing all failed to impress me (although getting such a behemoth of a book down to 130 minutes is an achievement in itself). While I was able to enjoy the beautiful set pieces and costumes, the astounding cinematography, and the clever directing, that is not enough to carry this movie to the great heights it hopes to achieve. For that, I guess I'll have to read the book.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1781769/