Once in a while, we get a film that pushes all the right buttons. No speical effects, no huge promotional pushes, simply dependent on word of mouth. We Live In Time is one of those films. Director John Crowley has gifted us with a film that makes you feel as if you're eavesdropping on a couple's private conversations, their thoughts, their struggles. And you identify with them, slipping into their lives as they try to make their relationship work, fail, come together and face excruciating challenges, challenges that happen to many of us.
Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) are brought together in a violent, but luckily not fatal, automobile mishap. Tobias, walking the streets at night in his bathrobe, steps off the curb straight into the path of an oncoming vehicle, driven by Almut. It's definitely meet-cute at first sight, right after Tobias wakes up in the hospital from his near fatal collision.
What I found exemplary about We Live In Time is the delicate touch writer Nick Payne and editor Justine Wright had with the film. It's not told in a straightforward manner, by which I mean the scenes are not sequential; they unspool two steps forward, one step back. But due to deft handling, we're never confused about where we are in the lives of the couple. You know from the onset that there will not be a happy ending. Yet the happiness that imbues the film, and the lives of the couple, as they discover each others strengths and weaknesses, how they create one out of two and yet still keep something of themselves, is the crux of the movie.
Almut is a Master Chef, with a wall full of international accolades. She is quite the free spirit and is positive she has no intentions of going the route of wife/mother. She has plans, lots of plans. Tobias is in advertising, recently split from his wife, and feels most comfortable when things are stable and predictable. He's extremely guarded in his emotions. So, of course, the sparks fly between the two. Almut even nicknames Tobias the 'Weetabix Man' to her friends, who see the couple's growing connection and try to help it along.
We are given snippets of their life - meeting their friends, their families, their co-workers. Seeing the possibilities. Learning about each others pasts and the scars that have made them who they currently are. Boy meets girl, boy screws up and loses girl, yes, we've seen it before. Expectations spoken, hearts broken. Yet the third act sneaks up on you so delicately that you remain immersed in the story. At times I felt like I was intruding.
The birth of their child is one of the most amusing sequences I've seen this year. No, I'm not even going to hint at the location.
Yes, it's about the power of love, but also about acceptance. Learning that pushing someone to conform to your idea of happiness and normalcy may please you initially, but probably not for the long term. Especially when you learn that the time you have with them has an expiration date. How do you love exponentially, how do you dream of a future, when you know your time is running out? How do you continue to be truthful and present with yourself, your partner, your loved ones, when the clock is ticking?
It may sound maudlin and sappy, but it's not. It's soft and warm, filled with heartbreak and challenges, reminiscent of that McGraw-O'Neal classic, Love Story, but not as teary. Let We Live In Time sneak up on you. You won't be disappointed.
Lisa Blanck is the Associate Editor / Movie Reviewer for In Focus-Magazine.com and is a member of the Critics Association of Central Florida. Her background includes 30+ years of digital editing for NBC and CBS News affiliates. She also edits national promotional spots for Matter Of Fact, the #1 nationally syndicated news & information program. For 30+ years she has covered the Florida Film Festival & the World Peace Film Festival, and has additional award-winning experience in advertising, marketing, promotions and live special events with MTV Networks.
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