About Time: Science Fiction Has Rarely Been This Adorable
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Science fiction has rarely been this freaking adorable. Writer-director Richard Curtis’ (Love Actually) latest perky romantic comedy, About Time, looks like pretty standard fare in that realm, except for one thing. This go round it involves time travel. Leaping around time can be scary, it can be funny, and as we learn in this new red band trailer, it can also be all sorts of gooey and romantic.
This trailer is pretty tame by red band standards. There’s no blood, violence, nudity, or any of the usual stuff that usually leads to an age restriction. But there is some naughty language, a couple f-bombs, and a reference or two to oral sex, just enough to make this not quite suitable to watch at work, at least without headphones.
We all have those awkward moments that we wish we could go back and change, an interaction that didn’t go as smooth as we hoped, when that perfect thing to say pops into your head just a moment too late. Well in About Time, Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) can do just that. Turns out it’s a family trait, all the men in his bloodline can bounce around in time and fix their little mistakes.
When Tim’s girlfriend Mary (Rachel McAdams) gets an unexpected visit from her parents, he does one hell of a job putting his foot in his mouth. You never, never want to mention blowjobs in front of the potential in-laws, that’s just bad form. In this video he trips up time and time again, though it’s not entirely his fault, Mary doesn’t exactly help him out, now does she?
Every young time traveler needs a guide, you know, someone to lead them through the pitfalls and booby traps inherent in the game. Marty McFly has Doc Brown, and fortunately Tim has his father, played by Bill Nighy to show him the ins and outs. Unfortunately for him, dear old dad seems a bit flighty and scatterbrained himself, spending a lifetime constantly living and reliving the same moment over and over again will do that.
It’ll be interesting to see where About Time is going, plot wise, from this trailer. What we’ve seen here, and in the American trailer we saw a few months back, it looks like we’re going to get your usually cutesy romcom stuff. That’s all well and good, I do love a good romcom now and again, but this looks like is has the potential to do something different, to add a new wrinkle to the formula.
This is only Curtis’ third movie as a director, though he has ton of screenwriting credits, including romantic comedies like Four Weddings and a Funeral, but also written for the likes of Doctor Who, Black Adder, and Mr. Bean. About Time opens in U.S. theaters on November 1, though U.K. audiences will get the chance to have their hearts warmed in early September.
