This time of year, I watch lots of movies. I binge first on the Christmas ones, then gradually wean myself off (reluctantly).
The other day, I watched a Richard Curtis film called About Time. The movie is not new; I believe it was released in 2013. I wasn’t aware of the film before and just came across it accidentally. I chose it because I knew it wouldn’t disappoint, as all of the other titles this writer, producer and director is known for are memorable.
Like many of his other productions, the screenplay of this rom-com was a mix of funny and sad. Without giving too much away and spoiling your viewing if you haven’t watched it yet, time travel and the ability to change things in his life feature. What I loved about it was that although the protagonist could change certain things in his life, it wasn’t possible to change everything. For me, this actually made the story more believable.
As a writer, it enforced the advice given to me a long time ago; that we must make our characters believable in our writing. The protagonist has to have struggles and goals as real people do.
The only difference is that film producers can do outtakes to do just that, and we can edit, edit, and edit to reach our desired outcome, unlike life.
