WE LIVE IN TIME Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: John Crowley
Stars: Florence Pugh, Andrew Garfield, Lee Braithwaite, Adam James, Grace Delaney.

This unashamed and somewhat old-fashioned weepy is a Love Story for the new millennium.
The soft-spoken Tobias Durand (Andrew Garfield) works for a breakfast cereal company. The brash and confident Almut Bruhl is a chef. They meet under unusual circumstances when she hits him with her car. When he awakens in the hospital she is sitting there. They talk. Tobias later walks into the restaurant where she works and a relationship develops between them. They have a child, a daughter named Ella (Grace Delaney). Almut is diagnosed with cervical cancer, but is determined to live her life to the fullest. Unaware of her condition, her colleague Simon (Adam James) invites her to participate in the Bocuse d’Or, a prestigious cooking competition that competes several nations against each other. Together with her assistant Jane (Lee Braithwaite), Almut begins training keeping her involvement in the competition a secret from Tobias.
We Live In Time is a bittersweet romance that follows Tobias and Almut across a decade. But director John Crowley (Brooklyn, etc) and writer Nick Payne (Tony nominated for his play Constellations) adopt a non-linear narrative structure as the film moves back and forth in time, juxtaposing moments of light and humour with darker moments, creating a mix of emotions. The film explores universal themes of family, grief, illness, the complicated nature of relationships, the demands of parenthood and the fragile nature of life. Crowley’s understated direction deftly avoids slipping into schmaltz though and he keeps things moving along at a smart pace.
The film has been beautifully shot with cinematographer Stuart Bentley (Black Mirror, etc) bathing certain scenes in soft, golden light.
Garfield and Pugh share a genuine chemistry that enlivens the sometimes formulaic material. Garfield brings an awkward but endearing charm to his performance as Tobias, although his character remains a little undefined. Pugh brings strength and passion to her role, portraying Almut as a strong, determined woman who wants to leave her mark before she dies. We learn more about her character and her past as a champion figure skater as the film progresses and her competitive nature.
★★★