At the age of 21, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) discovers he can travel in time… The night after another unsatisfactory New Year party, Tim’s father (Bill Nighy) tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. Tim can’t change history, but he can change what happens and has happened in his own life—so he decides to make his world a better place…by getting a girlfriend. Sadly, that turns out not to be as easy as you might think. Moving from the Cornwall coast to London to train as a lawyer, Tim finally meets the beautiful but insecure Mary (Rachel McAdams). They fall in love, then an unfortunate time-travel incident means he’s never met her at all. So they meet for the first time again—and again—but finally, after a lot of cunning time-traveling, he wins her heart.
Information
| Rachel as: | Mary |
| Other cast: | Domhnall Gleeson (Tim), Bill Nighy (Dad), Lydia Wilson (Kit Kat), Lindsay Duncan (Mum), Richard Cordery (Uncle D), Joshua McGuire (Rory), Tom Hollander (Harry), Margot Robbie (Charlotte), Will Merrick (Jay), Vanessa Kirby (Joanna) |
| Alternative Title: | Time And Time |
| Directed by: | Richard Curtis |
| Written by: | Richard Curtis |
| Production Status: | Available on DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital HD |
| World Premiere: | September 6, 2013 in the UK |
| Theatrical Release: | September 6, 2013 (UK) | November 1, 2013 (US) |
| Genre: | Comedy/Drama/Sci-Fi |
| Rated: | R for for language and some sexual content. |
| Distributor: | Universal Pictures |
| Run time: | 123 min |
| Production budget: | 30 Million (Reported) |
| Box office: | $15,322,921 (US) | $85,908,665 (World Wide) |
| Producers: | Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner |
| Original Music by: | Nick Laird-Clowes |
| Cinematography by: | John Guleserian |
Related Media
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Production Notes
With Gleeson on board the production, filmmakers moved forward in casting the role of Mary, the young American woman with whom Tim falls in love, marries and starts a family. Because of Rachel McAdams’ busy schedule, the filmmakers weren’t certain she would be able to join the production. Little did they know, however, that she adored the script.
Curtis was thrilled that an actress of McAdams’ caliber had signed onto the film. He muses: “Rachel is someone, who every time I’ve seen her in a film, I have melted with this sense of comfort and love. We were certainly lucky to get her.”
Bevan agrees that McAdams was absolutely perfect for the role, commending: “Rachel has that great girl- next-door quality. She has the beauty, the humor and the wit, but she also has the ability as an actress to make whomever she is playing against look equally as great.”
McAdams recalls what drew her to the part: “I enjoyed the script immensely and loved what it was about. It was quite moving with a very simple, but so meaningful moral of the story, and I loved all the characters. I knew that signing onto a Richard Curtis film was just a good package deal; he does these things so well. He is very generous with his spirit and brings so much of himself to the project.”
The performer appreciated that the expatriate was as complex as her on-screen love, sharing, “Mary’s got this funny mix of confidence and total insecurity. But then she meets Tim, and she just blossoms. He ushers her in the direction she was meant to go in, and the puzzle pieces fit, finally.”
Production Process
The film began filming in London (UK) early June 2012 and wrapped on filming late August. The movie shot on location in London and Cornwall and in the Ealing Studios in London. Filming location in London included SoHo and Abbey Road. Rachel wrapped up filming late July. Editing proces finished mid January 2013. The first cut of the movie was 3 hours long and they had to cut down to about 2 hours. The movie was originally scheduled to be released March 22, 2013 (UK) and May 10, 2013 (US) but the release got pushed back to the fall.
Trivia & Facts
Quotes from Rachel
“It’s a message so many of us can relate to, and I also wanted to work with Richard Curtis. … I was definitely a fan of his work … Love Actually, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’ Diary. He’s so prolific. And I also heard it may be Richard’s last movie! So I thought this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
–On why she signed on to the movie (The Stir)
“What I liked about it was that it wasn’t about a romance that falls apart and then picks itself back up again. That’s what you’d expect to happen in this film and I like that Richard was looking to do something else. Maybe it doesn’t always have to come crashing down as there are people out there who are making a life together. It’s not always easy but the turmoil doesn’t always have to be between them, it can be happening around them so we can then watch a couple being a team within that.”
–On what she likes about the story (NZ Herald)
“I had heard that nasty rumor, and it’s one of the reasons I did the film. I’m such a fan of his, and I thought, “Well, this might be my only chance.” So, I reached out to him for that reason, too. I hope it’s not. It’s tough because he’s taking time away from film to save the world. He’s so altruistic and raises so much money to fight poverty. It’s hard to ask him to take time away from that. It feels selfish. So, I can’t fault him for why he’s making the switch. He’s an incredible person. He’s one of the greatest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, and he brings that to the film. I felt like we were living the film we were making.”
–On how she feels that this might be Curtis’ last directional feature (Collider)
“We just played around with it. It was also trying to go from younger to older, and bangs just automatically scream young. It’s so funny because it was actually a hairpiece, so we could go quickly from young to older. We forgot to put it on one day, and my hairstylist was like, “Wait, the fringe!,” and she was running after me with this little piece of hair. It was slightly embarrassing. I probably would not do that again, but it just seemed like her.”
–On her character’s bangs (Collider)
Quotes from Cast & Crew
“It’s a romantic film which has a lot of time travel in it and a wonderful Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson is in it and Rachel McAdams is in it who is the greatest actress I’ve worked with recently. I can’t say that because of the other ones. And Bill Nighy is in it. It’s about love, life and time Travel.”
–Richard Curtis, director (Graham Norton Show)
“I don’t think Rachel knows, but she is the greatest actress in the world. And I’ve told her that a few times. It was absolutely gorgeous and every scene it seems if though my lines were not necessary cause she just she just felt like what I wanted to say in the scene from the very beginning of the scene until the end.”
–Richard Curtis, director (Munich Q&A)
“I think she should have won an Oscar for The Notebook.”
–Richard Curtis, director (Empire Magazine)
“I’ve always seen her in films and thought, ‘God, I want to have lunch with her. I want to be her friend!’ So to be playing her best friend feels quite surreal!”
–Vanessa Kirby, co-star (Instyle UK)
“It’s about love, live, death and birth and it’s about all those things. And how to live your life but it’s also a time travel comedy romantic thing. It’s very different to what he has done before I think. His heart is in the same place, but it’s told differently. I am extremely excited, I loved making that film very much. Rachel McAdams is kind of wonderful, she is amazing.”
–Domhnall Gleeson, co-star (Collider)
“I already thought Rachel was amazing and then I met her and she was, so beforehand you go: ‘What? She’s the girl? I’m meant to be her boyfriend? Are we really going to try and sell that to an audience?’ You’re all self deprecating because that’s just the way people think. And then you meet her and you just feel like it’s the most natural thing in the world because that’s the way she is, she’s that good.”
–Domhnall Gleeson, co-star (The Sun UK)
“I had Rachel record some audio for me, one of my favourite poems..and I would listen to that every morning when I woke up. The first thing I would hear in the morning time would be this lovely voice saying these lovely things.”
–Domhnall Gleeson, co-star (News Talk)
“I think she is probably perfect for any role. I think she is just, it’s a cliche, she is touched by genius. She does what Richard Curtis calls 360 degree acting. In other words: there is no wholes in it, you can’t get behind it. She comes apparently super prepared or maybe just instinctively brilliant and anything you require of her she just delivers without asking.”
–Bill Nighy, co-star (Entertainment Tonight)
Critical Reception
“More than just a time-travel rom-com, this is a movie that asks you questions and doesn’t sugar-coat as many of the answers as you’d expect. Smart and sweet, funny and genuinely moving. Should probably come with a ‘there’s something in my eye’ warning.”
-Mark Dinning (Empire Magazine)
“McAdams is a joy, matching Gleeson’s comic timing beat for beat, and an early sequence in which Tim relives their first night together is as good as anything Curtis has ever done.”
-Robbie Collin (Telegraph)
“Gleeson and McAdams (in a role to which Zooey Deschanel was once attached) have a radiant, believable chemistry that keeps the film aloft, while the other actors glide through effortlessly, even if many of the character types (the quirky younger sister, the embarrassing best friends) are a bit too familiar from previous Curtis efforts, especially Nighy’s affable, laid-back patriarch.”
-Leslie Felperin (Variety)
Awards & Nominations
★ 2013 San Sebastián International Film Festival for Best European Film
☆ 2014 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for Best Fantasy Film
☆ 2013 New York Film Festival for Best Film
Promotional Tour
| August 8th | 2013 London Premiere | Images Videos |
| August 9th | 2013 London Press Junket | Images Videos |
| August 10th | 2013 Munich Premiere | Images Videos |
| August 10th | 2013 Munich Press Junket | Videos |
| October 27th | 2013 Los Angeles Press Junket | Images Videos |
| October 31st | 2013 Conan | Images Videos |
| October 29th | 2013 The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Images Videos |
