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Richard Curtis’s swansong as director, About Time, is a sweet, eager puppy of a movie that only a hard-hearted churl could take serious exception to. Radiating a simple, sincere charm it’s a

small, personal movie disguised as a high concept romantic comedy (about time travel, no less) and a picture of quite colossal, potentially record-breaking niceness. The shy, diffident lead

character, 21-year-old Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) is the very definition of a good egg: a self-effacing, jolly decent young man who adores his parents (Bill Nighy and Lindsay Duncan), worries

himself silly over his troubled sister and can’t wait for a family of his own. One assumes he is Curtis’ alter-ego, an impression enhanced by a striking physical similarity between the

writer-director and his leading man. He certainly feels more like the real Richard Curtis than the Hugh Grant characters in Four Weddings And A Funeral and Notting Hill who Grant said he

modeled on Curtis. He’s less movie star charming and witty, more ordinary and sweet. Not to mention less foul-mouthed. That does mean he’s less fun and sexy but the ginger-haired Gleeson is

very sunny and likeable with great comic timing. He also has Grant’s trademark tongue-tied English diffidence down pat (even though he’s Irish). Curtis regular Bill Nighy, meanwhile, plays

Tim’s dad, another epically nice human being. A book-loving former academic who took early retirement to spend more time with his family and Charles Dickens he’s a splendid, warmly funny old

cove who knows what matters in life. Nesting at the picturesque family home by the sea in Cornwall, far from the false charms of London, he is a man devoid of grubby ambition, just like the

family’s dim-bulb but genial Uncle Desmond (Richard Cordery) who lives with them. “I’ve never met a genuinely happy rich person” dad tells Tim. __ Then there is “the girl”, Mary, the object

of Tim’s desire after he leaves home to make his way in London. She is a beautiful American (naturally) who works in publishing (i.e. doesn’t care about money) and who spends much of the

movie smiling beatifically. In fact, make that the whole movie. I tried to recall a scene or moment where she wasn’t smiling and couldn’t.  Played by Rachel McAdams, she looks like an angel

and pretty much is one, a super-lovely, endearingly modest hottie who is very game between the sheets but also a loyal and fabulous home-maker. In other words she’s Richard Curtis’ fantasy

woman and many more men’s besides. Clearly designed as an antidote to all the niceness is Tim’s landlord in London, a hilariously sour playwright played wonderfully by Tom Hollander. “What

the **** do you want?” he greets the eager Tim when he arrives on his doorstep. However, the bad guy act just doesn’t wash. The old grump is clearly a big softie at heart and fully deserving

of his place at the Richard Curtis round table of thoroughly decent sorts. In fact, there’s not a single antagonist in the picture - no smarmy love rival for Tim, no prattish pal messing up

his plans. Not even Mary herself amounts to much of an obstacle: she’s won over pretty much instantaneously and despite complications the relationship is never seriously threatened, not

even remotely. This might sound odd when you think of the picture as a romantic comedy but the truth is it isn’t really a romantic comedy. It’s more of a coming-of-age movie as our hero Tim

matures into a responsible adult who learns to appreciate the here and now. Which brings me to the the time-traveling thing. The men in Tim’s family have a special gift which Tim learns

about during a chat with his dad: they can travel back to any prior point in their life, simply by darting into a dark cupboard and clenching their fists. Now he’s 21 Tim has the gift too

and the awkward youngster decides to use the skill to help him get a girlfriend. “For me it was always going to be about love” he narrates. Note we’re talking love and not sex: although

there’s a funny set-piece where Tim upgrades his performance between the sheets by reliving the moment again and again there is none of the grisly smut and sexism that blighted Curtis’s last

picture, The Boat That Rocked, even if his version of the ideal woman, Mary, is barely more realistic than a blow up doll. Of course, we are in Groundhog Day territory here - one of the

greatest comedies ever - and Curtis certainly has chutzpah in brazenly using the same trick of having his hero relive his life in order to land the girl of his dreams. Still, like the

picture as a whole which has plot-holes and discrepancies, you just have to go along with it. There are some lively, amusing moments as Tom embarks on an accident-prone courtship (a

highlight features a cameo appearance by the late Richard Griffiths) before the story shifts into more thought-provoking territory involving Tim’s family. The heart of the picture really

consists of Tim’s relationship with his father and Nighy and Gleeson play out some very touching scenes. The result feels like Curtis’s most personal film yet, a gentle and tender-hearted

appreciation of the important things in life. About Time is not classic Curtis. It’s not as funny or surprising as Four Weddings And A Funeral and not as romantic or slickly escapist as

Notting Hill. However, despite the time-traveling hook it’s more real and down-to-earth than the overblown mush of Love, Actually and very sincere with an affectingly positive world view.

You might love it, actually. _(12A, 123mins)_ _Director: Richard Curtis_ _Stars: Domhall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy_ VERDICT: 4/5 _FOLLOW HENRY ON TWITTER@ FITZONFLICKS_