It’s About Time we discuss Richard Curtis – so much more than “Upper-middle class lifestyle porn"

I have gone back to re-watch About Time (2013) more times than Tim, its main character, travels back in time - and for good reason: the film is brilliant. This is a moving story about family, father-son relationships and of course love (which the king of romcoms observes so tenderly in this film). The magic realism might have its logical pitfalls, but ultimately, this is a madly endearing tale that moves the most cynical of us to tears.

It seems to me that Curtis’ other films such as Love Actually (2003), Notting Hill (1999) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) get the spotlight. They’ve firmly asserted themselves on the stage of romcom go-tos (I mean, do we really watch them for the plot or is it just Hugh Grant?). But anyway, I think it’s about time we really appreciate Curtis’ About Time. Starring the adorable Domnhall Gleeson, not-so mean girl Rachel McAdams, Margot Robbie and Bill Nighy – just to name a few of the many familiar faces in this film –, it's got its cast spot on. Bill Nighy, the retired lecturer-father is so warmingly sincere. His casual comedy and life lessons are great (life’s a mixed bag, no matter who you are. Look at Jesus: he was the son of God for God’s sake and look how that turned out). Tim’s failed attempts at love with Charlotte (Margot Robbie) make him realise that ‘all the time travel in the world can’t make someone love you’ and the quirkiness of the mother (Lindsay Duncan) and daughter-in-law (Rachel McAdams) is unabashedly frank.

Tim (a ‘sort of’ lawyer) and Mary (American publisher) meet for the first time at the Dans le Noir restaurant, but there’s a time travel shift which means Tim ends up never having met Mary in his new timeline. As the Cure’s Friday I’m in Love plays in the background in the Tate Modern Kate Moss exhibition scene Tim awaits to meet Mary again for the first time (confusing, I know). A pretty British, arty scene but hey, it retains a charming awkwardness that few can deny. Beneath the sense of city-culturalness and eccentric characters lies an open and honest depiction of love – with all its awkwardness.

Yes, we may be graced with the bliss of an idealised Cornish coast and cultural London life (the film boasts numerous London sights) but beneath the upper-middle class lifestyle lie the things so familiar to most, if not all, of us: relationships, quirky intricacies of first meetings and family love and loss. At the heart of this film, for me, is the father-son relationship. The ping-pong scenes open up a space of tenderly intimate conversations and the final beach scene will touch the toughest of us. Once we realise that the easy lifestyle of the father is a deliberate choice to spend more time with his family, the closer we are – and I don’t think this is too much of a stretch - to unlocking the key to happiness.

Curtis has said that this film felt like a ‘summing up’ to him and that it would likely be his last film. Sneering aside, this says a lot. From this film we learn the real importance of spending the time we have with loved ones and that ultimately, you don’t need time travel to cherish each day as it comes, to live life as if there are no second chances and do our best to relish this remarkable life.