About Time (2013)

Somewhere a physics teacher is still annoyed about About Time. The time travel rules bend whenever the movie wants you crying, and nobody on screen even pretends to care. Tim uses his family’s secret to redo moments with Mary until they go right, which is romantic if you squint and a little creepy if you don’t. Then the movie quietly swaps genres on you. The romance is the warmup. The real love story is Tim and his dad, and Bill Nighy plays that dad like a man who figured out the secret to life and keeps it in his cardigan pocket. Domhnall Gleeson is all elbows and apologies in the best way. Critics shrugged with a 55 on Metacritic, audiences went way warmer, and audiences are right. It runs long and the rainy wedding goes on forever, but you won’t mind. A 7.4 because the logic is a mess and the feelings are dead on. $52 says you call your dad after this, or at least think about it really hard.

What works: Bill Nighy and Domhnall Gleeson as father and son, and a sneaky turn from rom-com into a movie about family.

What doesn’t: The time travel rules bend whenever the plot needs a tear, and redoing moments with Mary until they go right is creepier than the movie admits.

Who it’s for: People who want a good cry on a rainy Sunday and anyone who still calls their dad for advice.