'We Live in Time' Review: Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield's Electric Chemistry Sparks Mid Romantic Drama
Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield have too much talent for this realm. They have starred in movies that aren’t…great, but their performances make them watchable. Two of Britain's finest actors finally joined forces for a project. However, they, along with director John Crowley of Brooklyn fame, deserve a better film than the romance We Live in Time, which plays like an extended episode of This Is Us with the tone of a Richard Curtis movie. Due to their superior talent and electric, if not power plant-level, onscreen charisma, they elevate this sentimental outlook on love, life, and tragedy, making it far more than an amusing watch.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of A24
R: Language, sexuality and nudity.
Runtime: 1 Hr and 47 Minutes
Production Companies: Film4, SunnyMarch, Shoebox Films
Distributor: A24
Director: John Crowley
Writer: Nick Payne
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh
Release Date: October 11, 2024
Almut's (Florence Pugh) and Tobias' (Andrew Garfield) love story starts as every other: with a car accident. After hitting Tobias with a car on the highway, Almut stays with him at the hospital to ensure his safety. As an apology, she invites him to eat at the fancy restaurant she works as a chef at. It doesn’t take long before they hit it off and a sensational romance blossoms. Through a series of non-chronological snapshots told throughout decades, Almut and Tobias face challenges that test their love and commitment to each other.
If you’re an avid fan of Garfield and Pugh, We Live in Time is an exceptional showcase of their inherent talent in a cinematic endeavor that heavily rests on their shoulders. They share a collaborative, effortless, adorable chemistry throughout this non-chronological romantic tale. Their characters, Almut and Tobias, have the same traits as Pugh and Garfield as you see them in interviews where they're naturally charming and cheeky. Even some of their real-life talents make their way into their characters, such as Ms. "Cooking With Flo" finally getting to play a chef. You can feel the relief and joy from both performers getting to flaunt their abilities while retaining their British accents. It is so damn British, Tobias is a data manager at Weetabix, the most British cereal to ever Bri'ish.
The sheer light of the duo allows for all the non-linear snapshots to be instantly intriguing to follow. You get to be part of Almut and Tobias' relationship. Whether it’s deep into the couple fighting Almut's ovarian cancer, their newly formed relationship, or their domestic lives as parents, as formulaic some of the beats become, they sell you on every aspect of their obstacles or moments of bliss. Pugh has much more substantial material than Garfield's Tobias, for her Almut has firm viewpoints on career and family values.
The strength of director John Crowley lies in his ability to find the right balance between depicting the tonal aspects of the lead's relationship as fun and playful when needed. It’s sentimental enough but never saccharine. The romantic beats feel warm and fluffy, despite being emotionally manipulative at times.
We Live in Time is not entirely an unbearably flimsy Hallmark card, for Nick Payne’s screenplay shares its sentimentality with a surprising comedic base that's often hysterically funny. It’s as if he heard the This Is Us comparisons from execs or friends and did a major punch-up on the script so it can stand out as its own. And to Payne's credit, it does. Several instances in this love story get outrageously silly, sometimes boldly going for the jugular, and those comedy-driven scenes often work wonderfully. Thankfully, the leads are talented enough to maneuver these shifts between drama and comedy while ensuring that none of it is jarring. I hope that Garfield and Pugh forgo drama for a bit and attempt a screwball comedy.
Well, this is straight cheese, akin to early Nicholas Sparks stuff. We Live in Time is no second coming of The Notebook… yet, I wouldn't be surprised to see it become as revered as The Notebook in the future. Nick Payne’s screenplay finds every romantic cliché in the book and smothers the stage in its cheesy dressing. It hits tropes such as two major dates overlapping, or unprompted arguments and conversations at bizarre moments. But as I said, the dialogue and the characters, especially Tobias, lacked personality. You know what they're about, but never who they are apart from being… British normies. Pugh and Garfield have often played well-thought-out characters, but as Almut and Tobias they're playing versions of themselves, or as we perceive them to be based on public appearances. Maybe for casual fans or hell, even Pugh and Garfield themselves, that's all they need currently, like a palette cleanser before having to drown in dimensional characters or capeshit again. But as performers of their magnitude, they deserve something a bit stronger than a script of boxed wine quality.
We Live in Time is a romantic two-hander that shows why Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield are two of Britain's best actors today. Despite the abundance of clichés, this charming and captivating romantic drama held by the duo's performances render it a worthy viewing.
Rating: 3/5
