Oh, cmon you cynical critics. There is every bit of magic and the right dose of, if you must call it, cliche, and every bit of reminder of the power of love and family and tradition (that is more in more in short supply in this overdigitized and overplanned era), that Richard Curtis brings to us. If you really look for it, yes there is some syrup (i.e. pourings of heartfelt elements), but you have to leave your biases and skepticism at the door. Perhaps I am a sucker for these "Love Actually" types of movies, but I praise a film that makes me laugh, smile, cry, remember, want to go back and travel in time and know the exact moment I would want to change, and smile again because there are pockets of triumph when we follow who we love and smile again by believing that family is the strongest and most immortal gift we can have. And more in defense of the critics - it is not a perfectly mixed Curtis-romanse recipe. Because formula-type movies do not just perfectly fall into place like "About Time".
