turq, thanks for the recommendation. I'm always looking for an exceptional
romance movie and this sounds perfect. Plus I'm fascinated by time travel. I
really liked Rachel McAdams in State of Play and finally remembered where I had
seen her before: The Family Stone in which she plays a less likeable character.
But so does Sarah Jessica Parker so...
On Friday, January 3, 2014 9:55 AM, TurquoiseB <turquoi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
A warning, for those of you who are mainly drawn to movies about zombies,
vampires, teenagers battling to the death, misogynist TV anchormen, con men
conning mayors, Senators and Congressmen, and $3,000 suit-wearing wolves on
Wall Street. This movie is not like that. It's probably more akin to the film
"Her," which I haven't been able to see yet. It's a romance movie.
And, like many of Richard Curtis' films, it's a pretty good romance movie. As a
director, he's responsible for "Love, Actually;" as a writer, he's responsible
for "Notting Hill" and numerous other films which have been sadly consigned to
that movie ghetto labeled "chick flicks." They weren't. They were "romance
flicks," although that phrase lacks the alliteration necessary to be remembered
in these days of widespread ADHD.
This film is not an exception to the rule. The official tagline of the film is
"A new funny film about love. With a bit of time travel." If that doesn't turn
you on, stop reading right now.
OK, you're still reading. Throw into the mix, as actors, Bill Nighy (He Who Can
Simply Do No Wrong Onscreen), Rachel McAdams ("The Notebook," "State Of Play,"
"The Time Traveler's Wife," and "Midnight In Paris"), and a host of
lesser-known but wonderful actors including Domhnall Gleeson (son of acting
phenomenon Brendan Gleeson) in the lead, and see if that does anything for you.
If not, this is your second chance to click Next and get outahere.
If you still persisted, here's the scoop. Young Tim (Gleeson), on a significant
birthday, is ushered into a room with his father (Nighy) who sits him down and
gives him one of "those talks." No, it's not the talk about sex. It's the talk
in which Nighy has to explain that all of the males in their family have the
ability to go back in time (within their own lifetimes) and thus change the
subsequent events of their lives. They could use this ability to gain riches
(always a bad idea, according to Nighy), or fame (a close-second bad idea), or
some more noble pursuit. Tim, being a clever lad, decides to turn his ability
to the finding of a girlfriend, an art he's had little luck with without the
benefit of time travel.
The result is really charming. Sweet, in the "not-hideously-saccharine" sense
of that term. I'm passing along this review because I suspect some here might
like it.
There are some *wonderful* moments in this film. The scene in the restaurant in
which Tim and his drinking pal are led to a completely dark room and seated
next to two young ladies they don't know has now become an instantaneous,
overnight classic scene in the world of romance movies. It's simply amazing how
much can be conveyed by the actors' voices, while the screen is completely
dark. Try to imagine meeting someone in total darkness, getting along famously,
and then seeing each other for the first time, after having had a wonderfully
romantic dinner conversation in total darkness. If such a restaurant existed in
real life, I would SO be there.
Anyway, it's an absolutely perfect moment in time. Which is a problem, because
if you're mucking about with time all the time, you can inadvertently do
something that makes that perfect moment go away. It's not as if it never
happened; it really never happened.
So what do you do then, if you've met the love of your live and now she doesn't
remember you? And if you use your magical time-traveling skills, are you just
going to muck it up even more? Therein lies the plot, which I'm not at all
going to give away, just in case there are a few romantics out there who might
be interested in seeing this film.
I thought it was a sweet movie, one that has a few things to say about life and
the successful living of it towards the end. You might like it. If you don't,
go back in time and see it again. You might find that it's better the second
time around.
