Some filmmakers delight in fragmenting time, disrupting its normal flow for non-linear storytelling. The technique can be illuminating if it serves as a structural prism that heightens understanding and deepens involvement with the tale that's being told. Then there's the other kind, a drama in which time shifts seem designed to elevate a story that otherwise might seem overly familiar.
The romance We Live in Time tends toward the latter category, a love story that dices a familiar arc into chunks, some agreeable, some cliched, and others that might produce heavy eyerolls.
Director John Crowley (Brooklyn, The Goldfinch) builds his film around the evolving relationship between Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield), a couple whose contrived meet-cute strains for novelty. Almut and Tobias fall in love, struggle to become parents, eventually have a daughter, and are ultimately jolted by news that Almut has an incurable cancer, a fate announced in an early scene.
The doom-struck romance should (here's a shock) leave audiences reaching for tissues. Garfield's ability to project the wounded soul serves a similar purpose, and for those who see real chemistry as opposed to a strained romance, the movie may strike a chord.
It's arguable that romance should carry playwright John Payne's screenplay, providing Pugh and Garfield conquer the way scenes are dealt out in what can feel like a near-random shuffle.
We Live in Time wears its editing like a costume that diverts attention from its characters, Tobias's job, whatever it is, seems suited to anonymity. Almut works as a well-known chef, an occupation that allows the movie to introduce a cooking competition into a cancer drama, which struck me as an example of trendy dramatic overcooking.
And, yes, Almut and Tobias's daughter (Grace Delaney) is cute, a product of an over-amped childbirth scene that arrives before the couple can reach a hospital.
The story includes an assertive statement from Almut who doesn't want her daughter to remember her only as a mom, a thematic point that feels like an afterthought rather than one that's fully developed.
The movie's title reminds us that changing times and circumstances can make a difference in relationships and how we perceive them. Fair enough, but a juggled timeline can't keep these characters from seeming to love, hurt, and grieve on cue.
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