One of my local cinemas had this movie advertised with two posters for two different dates, since We Live in Time was slated for wide release here in January, and was also part of their November British film festival 😮 You never really see that. You also rarely see such a fantastically fun and absorbing press tour, like the one Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield have just had, displaying their wicked chemistry. Not Wicked chemistry (💚💗), but wicked chemistry (💑🥰). And will it translate into We Live in Time? I bet it will.
Almut Brühl (Florence Pugh) and Tobias Durand (Andrew Garfield) meet when Almut accidentally strikes Tobias with her car 😬 And this movie follows the chapters of their relationship, heeded by a quite distressing medical diagnosis. Mostly, We Live in Time is just watching Pugh and Garfield play pretend at being a couple. And they’re sweet – Garfield plays a lovely man, and Pugh an alluring woman. Throughout examples, I thought this movie’s main intent might prove to be how what could be perfect moments in time are often interrupted by the mundane churn of life – because, there’s when Almut and Tobias are interrupted trying to inform their daughter about Mummy’s cancer at the café, and there’s Almut hoping to announce to Jade (Lee Braithwaite) how she’d like Jade to join her for the European cooking tournament, but ends up having to take her into the freezer for clear space – although, that scene construction doesn’t continue throughout. This movie can also be sappy in parts, when it does let the moment breathe – there’s the whole idea of these two hitting it off because Almut hit Tobias with her car, and Tobias’s impromptu speech at the baby shower to win Almut back; both occurrences did have me slightly cringing inside 😑 Plus, I’ve seen the non-linear storytelling done more effectively in other places than this, while I see why it’s necessary for this movie, and adds a bit of zip to the story compared to if were told literally. But look, it’s never like I wasn’t enjoying We Live in Time, in so far as a movie portraying the flow and motions of a loving relationship; but I did think back on similar movies, like Spoiler Alert, and evaluate how they just appealed to me better 😕 If I were like a child picking out of two excited puppies in a shop window, both relatively the same, but one with a shapelier brown blotch on its back or so, I would have to base my preference on the superficial frills alone 🐶
But this movie ramps up at the birthing scene, which is surreal 😯 What a consequential feather in the cap of all staff who run petrol stations – I will wonder now every time I go into one, if the staff would cope with birthing a baby, and look upon them with a newfound respect 🤝 And from there, I would say We Live in Time is captivating, which includes the whole portion of Almut pushing herself to compete in the cooking competition. I think it was really touching how once she was done, she took her daughter figure skating, with the emotional music swell surrounding Almut skating by, about to depart, hitting me where it hurts, and indicating to me how much I cared for Almut through Pugh’s performance. And the bond she’d made with fellow chef Jade, was also lovely. Yet mostly, I come away from We Live in Time fondly noting the bravery within a relationship – deciding on love, deciding to love, and fighting for your love. Facing sickness together, meeting the parents, compromising on pathways, are all moments that are scary and puzzling, and through Tobias particularly, we see the strive intended for the good of the partnership. I must quibble slightly on the movie’s title though, as it were, because for months I’ve been calling this movie, “We Live in a Time”, and even now, I like it better, and I feel it makes more sense, probably only overtaken by the sentiment that we live “for a time”. Because I understand how this movie is also about life moving with the flow of time, as if we float weightless in time’s gentle current. The movie captures the right end of a bittersweet finale, with Tobias and his daughter cracking eggs, as for his time, he has got his daughter, and life-lessons from Almut, but won’t get his second wedding, or grow old with the partner of his life. And We Live in Time works well since I also cared for Almut, saddened she’s gone 😢
I really enjoy how Florence Pugh is entrusted to lead these types of movies – A Good Person being another – where she is to be charming, as well as burdened, and still relatable to the wider public. I almost think that she’s only twenty-nine, and already a proven veteran in her field. Pugh’s done a lot of different things, hasn’t she? Genres and such, but there’s always a deep emotional core to explore in all her characters, if not most. She makes me sad that I haven’t got to The Outrun or Blitz, from last year, to see how Saoirse Ronan is doing; another outstanding professional that was not so long ago the lead sister over Pugh in Little Women – although it’s not a competition 😄 And this point of conversation comes full circle, when I discover that Ronan was lead in this film’s director, John Crowley’s other big film, Brooklyn, which provided Ronan her second of four Oscar nominations 😮 I got to get onto that. As for Andrew Garfield, well I just think the man was robbed not winning an Oscar for Tick, Tick… Boom!, and so any movie role he can make his own, meaty or otherwise, I will support no matter what. He’s a classy star; I’m a big fan. I do feel like this part here is not as vivid as Florence Pugh’s; like, I wouldn’t say they’re matched – but that just could be more to do so with the nature of the story being told, with his role in service to hers, although Tobias does have his moments.
By the by, although this review is coming out later, I watched this movie on National Popcorn Day, absolutely gorged on the golden gems, with a huge helping of Coke, just the way the universe intended us to watch movies 🍿😎🥤 A big thanks to my local Village Cinemas for putting on the event 👍 We Live in Time is probably not your idealist popcorn adventure – not enough guns or action, and I probably should’ve seen Den of Thieves 2: Pantera instead 😄 – but We Live in Time was well worth my time, and succeeds as an emotional localized spotlight on a romantic relationship.
4.0
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