It’s About Time: About Time

I’ve never been in a horrible accident, but I imagine if I were I would watch this movie to feel better. It’s the Chicken Soup for the Soul of movies. Enjoyable, inoffensive, it’s the perfect movie to cheer you up. Where some might consider this to be a very basic, bland Hollywood blockbuster with a simple storyline and plot, I’d argue differently. While this film is basic, it’s masterfully so. While there is very little that separates it from other films, I still found myself crying at the end.

For those of you who are wondering why I chose to review this film compared to the many other time travel films I could watch to end off time travel month, there is a very simple reason I chose this movie: other reviewers haven’t done it justice. When I first read the reviews of this film back in 2018 after I first watched it with my then-girlfriend, I was surprised by how snobbish the film reviewers were. They referred to it as “bland” and “filled with plot holes”. I’m here to set the record straight.

Okay, yes, the film is filled with plot holes. Rules are established early on and become muddled later on in order to allow for sweet moments. You have to shut off the part of your mind that enjoys well developed, strong plotlines in order to watch this movie. If you want intelligent screenwriting, Dark, which I reviewed last week (https://comic-watch.com/television-shows/its-about-time-dark-season-1) now has 26 hours of loophole-free content for you.

As far as the bland part of it, I think that’s up to the viewer. I personally did not think it was bland. It did a very good job of developing this very warm, cozy, romantic environment. Every single setting was sweet and welcoming, even if there was conflict that was to occur. The film acts as a good brochure for England: it contains all the nice, inviting parts, and leaves out all of the Peterboroughs and Doncasters. The lighting was also thought out, and contained shades of green and yellow in order to help develop a comforting atmosphere. The costume design also helped in this respect, as it enveloped those green and yellow hues also.

I know that now I’m starting to sound like a pretentious film major, so how about I talk about the plot. About Time has a very wholesome plot. An awkward guy falls in love with a girl. The protagonist, Tim, has very little negative qualities yet still shines through as a likable character. He has flaws, but those flaws don’t make him unlikable.

This film is the only movie that I’ve reviewed that actually shows time travel in a positive light. You could technically see this as a fault of the movie depending on your views of time travel. If you think the world will end if you change even the slightest details from the past, then maybe this isn’t for you. (Time travel is used by Tim so that he can get a girl to like him.) If you really don’t want to think about that sort of stuff for two hours and three minutes, you can check this film out.

The last thing of note about this movie is the use of comedy. Although this film isn’t downright hilarious, the film does allow for the occasional chuckle. The jokes are always well-timed, and are oftentimes used to act as tension relief in the film’s conflicts.