About Time
Directed by: Richard Curtis Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy Rating: R Release Date: November 1, 2013
Trailer Score: 7/10
Thoughts by TSR: This all feels quite familiar. First of all, Rachel McAdams has been demoted to playing a time traveler's girlfriend. Time traveling Bill Nighy talking about killing Hitler shows that his character has seen every time travel story in the history of time travel stories. Plus, the basic concept just feels like so many things that have come before. And yet I can't help but be won over by how darn charming Domhnall Gleeson and Rachel McAdams are together.
I don't love all of it – boy did that line about McAdams putting on her pajamas so Gleeson could take them off make me cringe – but throughout most of the trailer they make a cute, charming couple. As much as I like McAdams, Gleeson is the big selling point for me. He was terrific as the lovelorn Levin in Anna Karenina, so seeing him get a lead role in a lighter film should be enjoyable. Of course, this time travel stuff can lead to bad news if you overuse it, so it won't all be jumping around naked on the bed while "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men delights. The moment where a bespectacled McAdams says they've never met is almost played as a punchline with the way Gleeson says "Oh no!" Immediately after, though, Nighy reminds that this is serious business, delivering the line about how every day up to yesterday is lost for Gleeson and everyone else. I like the balance on display here, and I imagine Richard Curtis will carry that through to the film.
I didn't expect much from another McAdams time traveling film, but this trailer for About Time makes me think Curtis and his charming leads made something worth checking out.