Leigh Paatsch reviews About Time

HERE we have yet another classy crowd-pleaser from Richard Curtis, the clever mind behind such popular British feel-gooders as Love Actually and Notting Hill.

ABOUT TIME [M]

Rating: 3.5/5

Director:Richard Curtis (Love Actually)

Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander

HERE we have yet another classy crowd-pleaser from Richard Curtis, the clever mind behind such popular British feel-gooders as Love Actually, Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Though stepping lightly across well-trodden rom-com turf here, Curtis applies a twist that works deceptively well.

At the age of 21, a young ginger-headed gent named Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) is clued in on a longstanding family secret : the males in his clan have the ability to travel back in time. His dad (Curtis regular Bill Nighy) is so matter-of-fact about this calendar-cheating malarkey that viewers will find themselves convinced of its authenticity well before Tim himself.

There are rules to be observed. The time traveller can only rewind to dates within his own life. There are other terms and conditions, but they are best pondered by the audience as they happen in the story.

Anyway, just how this inexplicable talent will be used (and abused) throughout Tim's adult life draws some of Curtis' wittiest scripting in years.

As he is a bit of a dork, Tim prefers to initially apply his new-found powers to matters pertaining to the opposite sex. Because Tim can stop the clock and jump back to where he started, the ability to trial-and-error his way into a woman's affections is soon mastered.

Being a Richard Curtis film, it should come as no surprise that our very English hero eventually falls hard for a beautiful American (Rachel McAdams ably filling a slot once occupied by the likes of Andie MacDowell and Julia Roberts in earlier Curtis outings).

Even if the film is guilty of sometimes getting too sweet for its own good, a genuinely moving closing act dissolves the excess sugar. A fine ensemble including McAdams, Bill Nighy and Tom Hollander guarantees a good time will be had by most.

Might be wise to bring along a tissue or two as well.

Gleeson is the real find. Looks a bit like David Wenham. Sounds a lot like Hugh Grant. But shows enough potential in his own right - his comic timing is excellent - to suggest we'll be seeing a lot more of this Irish-bred leading man in years to come.