Films: We live in time

We live in time is a sentimental, emotional and devastating depiction of ordinary romance and ordinary heartbreak starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. If you know these types of films and what they’re capable of, then there’s nothing new here – it tells you from the first frame how it’s going to end. But that doesn’t stop John Crowley from tugging at the heartstrings in a loving, emotional way – a meet-cute begins with manslaughter – Florence Pugh’s Almut, an ultra-competitive super cook; Garfield’s newly divorced Tobias runs over with a car and takes him to the hospital. From then on, the chemistry between them is immediately right. Only good movie stars can make the magic look natural – Almut and Tobias fall in love, but Tobias is the one more interested in children than Almut, and that creates tension early on – but it’s all about watching. These two characters overcome their arguments and work together in a relationship to find a solution: With a ticking clock in her head, Almut is running out of time faster than expected – and she believes that she has to achieve everything she has set out to do. In just a few months, she wants hers give something to my daughter with which she can remember her.

It’s flashbacks and memories that make the magic work here – it’s less a series of carefully told storylines and more memories depending on when you remember them. The linear narrative is far from present, but there are times where you can see Richard Curtis’ influence shining through in this film and he never really tries to do anything new. Yes, we know what’s going on with these characters, but why should we care about them? I felt a little distant, a little distant. And part of that is due to Almut’s actions, which never feel believable as a character who wants to be remembered for something other than dying, as if there weren’t already enough successes in her life. This comes at the expense of ambition and success, and what makes this film even more unreliable is the fact that I never really understood why these two ended up together in the first place – they feel like completely different characters and personalities. I kept asking myself, “Why should I care?” And We live in time never gave me that answer. It is solely thanks to the strength of Pugh and Garfield that this film is worth watching.

The humor is where the film has moments of pleasure amid the doom and gloom, and it shines through in the gas station – the unique awkwardness of strangers helping a woman about to give birth was hilarious, in one deeply moving scene – it straddles the line between humor and seriousness in a way that doesn’t quite work as well as it should, could have been a little longer to perhaps convey more emotion and perhaps give Garfield’s character more scope – he has that Feels like he has to make it He makes sacrifices at every turn and we never really learn much about his personality – and considering how poor the script is, it ultimately feels like Richard Curtis should be in the credits somewhere , but that goes to author Nick Payne. Ultimately, the whole thing is a missed opportunity that I’ve never really been able to identify with, but if you let the emotional silliness of it all embrace you, it can move you – and I appreciate that it brings a sense of feeling to dealing with it Maturity lends grief, which Garfield handles so well. I’ve never really been moved – but I’m also more prone to getting hit by a car now than before, and I think there are few films that can have a positive impact on that.

If Garfield and Pugh had been allowed to be a little more charismatic, as they are two of the most charismatic actors in the game right now – that would have worked for me, but that never really worked.