At Film4 Summer Screen at Somerset House last night, I fell head over heels in love with Richard Curtis’ new film, About Time.
The movie, a romantic-comedy blending elements of sci-fi, is hands down one of the best you’ll see this year, and certainly the single greatest romantic-comedy in years.
Domhnall Gleeson and Rachel McAdams are truly stellar in the leading roles, with Gleeson in particular taking centre stage, giving a performance not seen from a young male in a rom-com since Hugh Grant’s early work, penned by Curtis himself.
Following the terrific new red-band trailer that surfaced last week, Universal have now released a new preview, spanning a quartet of films from Curtis’ career, including the upcoming About Time.
At the age of 21, Tim is told an incredible family secret by his father: all the men in his family have the ability to relive their past. He can revisit any moment in his life to try things differently until he gets them perfectly right.
He decides to use his special new gift to win the heart of the beautiful Mary, but finds that the course of true love can be hilariously difficult — even with the ability to try, try and try again. And even when everything seems to be going well, an unfortunate twist in time means that he never met Mary at all… While his unique gift might just help him find true love, Tim discovers that it can’t save him from the ups and downs that life brings to everyone. In the end, he finds that making the most of love and life will mean giving up the past and living for the moment.
Gleeson and McAdams are joined by a fantastic cast, all of whom give terrific performances alongside them, with Bill Nighy, Lydia Wilson, Tom Hollander, Lindsay Duncan, Vanessa Kirby, Margot Robbie, and Joshua McGuire leading the way.
Curtis is of course once more directing from his own script, with the great Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner reuniting with the writer-director once more to produce his third, and possibly final, movie behind the camera.
Curtis said at last night’s ‘premiere’ (the film in fact screened as the Secret Film at EIFF earlier this summer) that the film is his most personal to date, and that really comes across.
About Time will be released in the UK on 4th September, before heading across the Atlantic for an early limited release on November 1st, ahead of its wide US release date on November 8th.
[yframe url=’www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCiEvTNbEMQ’]
For those interested, the preview above is set to the tune of Ellie Goulding’s beautiful How Long Will I Love You, recorded from the film and taken from the upcoming album, Halycon Days, due out on 26th August. The track will also feature on the About Time OST, due out on 2nd September.
