The romantic melodrama is a subgenre that has fallen by the wayside in the rapidly changing terrain of today’s film industry. Directed by John Crowley (“Brooklyn”), a movie like “We Live in Time” was once a staple of the box office marketplace, but the audience for such a thing has decreased.
“We Live in Time,” which had its debuted at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, is tuned to the key of a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, but without the hollowness. Sparks’s adaptations are dog whistles for movie criers, often reveling in the unfortunate situations the main characters go through as long as it brings the audience to tears. While Crowley’s movie unabashedly targets tear ducts, his gentle touch as a director and the performances of the two leads make “We Live in Time” feel authentic and grounded.
The movie uses a non-linear structure — occasionally to its detriment — to tell the story of Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield). Almut is a successful chef and Tobias works for the British cereal company Weetabix. Their beginning traces back to a dangerous meet-cute involving a car, and then the plot spends time bouncing between past and present to show how the relationship evolves through good and bad.
The couple is hit with a heavy dose of bad when Almut is diagnosed with cancer, which forces their family (now including young daughter Ella, played by Grace Delaney) to have a new perspective. Tobias works through the diagnosis as an emotional spouse who wants to support his partner through the toughest season of her life. Almut doesn’t want cancer to deter her career, and refuses to lose sight of her ambitions in the wake of such devastating news.
Yes, “We Live in Time” wants the audiences’ tears, but asks for them nicely. As the characters are faced with hardships, Crowley and screenwriter Nick Payne don’t make those moments the point of the movie, as any lesser melodrama would. Even for an aesthetic presented with glossy sheen by cinematographer Stuart Bentley, there’s a sense of every day life running through “We Live in Time.”
Payne’s screenplay can seem light on plot, but most of the time, it works. “We Live in Time” is about the trials and tribulations that come with existence. Things don’t always go as one may expect — sometimes, they go places one can’t even imagine.
Where the script may feel weightless, Garfield and Pugh provide much-needed depth with their beautiful, almost effortless performances. Garfield and Pugh, both Oscar-nominated actors, are not strangers to mainstream moviegoers but in “We Live in Time,” it feels like watching two every day people live their lives.
Though some might say the audience for weepie melodramas is waning, Garfield and Pugh show that when it’s delivered by the right actors, this kind of film can rise above genre trappings and work on a human level.
“We Live in Time” opens at The Little Theatre on October 18.
Matt Passantino is a contributor to CITY.
This article appears in Oct 1-31, 2024.
