RV: Have you ever gone to a fancy restaurant that your friends just rave about only to have a seemly ordinary dining experience. Welcome to About Time. A movie that on the surface does everything it is supposed to do in a very clean cut production but leaves a viewer looking for an original experience feeling quite empty. Again, the movie is very solid from top to bottom with its beautiful cinematography, terrific acting, and charm for the days; however, the real flaw of the film resides in the very thing that it touts as its unique—time travel. The time travel drags the movie down into an all too familiar plot and lazy scenes that go on way too long. We get it. Our hero messes up but gets a redo until the girl likes him. Too often, you can see how the scene plays out well before it finishes, which makes much of this movie yawn inducing. I had high hopes with this movie. Time travel has been done, so I sat waiting and waiting for an unexpected turn or even a unexpected message on love…but that moment never comes. The time travel is confusing and convenient, final message could have been read off of a greeting card.

T: This movie, though deceivingly believed to be merely another romantic comedy, ultimately serves some pretty heavy-handed life-lessons that even the greatest cynic should be willing to bear (see review, Mr. Red Vines). Although serving some typical tropes, About Time shares with its audience the idea of time and how much it does – and how little it should – consume our existence. And although it isn’t perfect – some scenes seem to go on too long, others finish with little reward – where it lacks, it more than makes up with charm and sentimentality. Like other feel-good favorites (insert The Holiday, Love Actually, etc) it pairs well with a quiet Friday-night and a glass of red wine. Is it Shawshank worthy? (the truest test of a good film) No. But is it more than a easily forgettable rom-com? Absolutely.

2 Red Vines – Let’s redo this experience and make it interesting.

3 Twizzlers: Leaves you with feel-good bubbles whose final sequence will leave you sobbing into your wine and hugging the closest living thing (plant? cat? neighboring human?)