It’s a classic story, one as old as time itself. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl after going back in time to help his eccentric playwright flatmate’s star actor not forget his lines on opening night. Boy goes back forward in time to meet girl at art exhibit, but – oh no! – she doesn’t recognize him and – double oh no! – she has a boyfriend now. Boy goes back back in time to meet girl at a party before her boyfriend shows up. And boy wins girl back … at least in this timeline. And people gave "Looper" flack.

The boy in this scenario is Tim (Domhnall Gleeson, who Harry Potterheads might recognize as Bill Weasley in the last two films), an awkward, self-described "too orange" Brit. The girl is Mary (Rachel McAdams), a charming, soft-voiced American living abroad. And the movie that puts the two together is "About Time," a mix of "Groundhog Day" and a Nicholas Sparks adaptation that’s not as inventively manic as the former and far from as insipid as the latter.

Shudder at the thought of that second option. In Sparks’ hands, the intertwined worlds of love and time travel could’ve ended up saccharine, trite and gimmicky. Here, in the hands of writer-director Richard Curtis ("Love Actually"), it’s actually quite lovely.

Tim learns about his special time-bending powers on his 21st birthday from his kindly father (Bill Nighy). He’s understandably skeptical at first, but after a quick trip back to a failed New Year’s Eve kiss, he’s all on board. Using his special powers for money is a quick way to a drunken death, his father warns, so Tim decides to use his skills in the hopes of finding love.

Even with time on his side, Tim struggles to find the one until he meets Mary at a cleverly executed dining in the dark meet-cute. However, as the first paragraph eluded to, some time paradoxing goes awry, and Tim has to win her back.  

Now, this is probably where most romance films would spend the majority of their running time (in fact, you’d only have to switch out Gleeson for Channing Tatum, and you’d pretty much have "The Vow"). Then the film keeps on going, and it’s apparent Curtis isn’t merely interested in just a story about love, but a story about life, the relationships and the moments, big and small, that make it so rewarding, even for us simpletons who’ll only go through time once.

I should note: the time traveling mechanics. They don’t really make sense. The rules write themselves and then un-write themselves pretty much at will. Remember that part in "Looper" when Bruce Willis tells Joseph Gordon-Levitt that they shouldn’t talk about the logic of time travel because they’ll just end up talking themselves in circles and making diagrams out of straws? They should hand that quote out on a card before showings of this because it’s a good way to keep sane.

Then again, "About Time" isn’t exactly hard sci-fi or even soft sci-fi. It’s more like super fluffy kitten sci-fi, and even that is probably over selling it. The important thing is the emotions and the relationships ring true. For the most part, the script hits these crucial elements with strong doses of sweetness and sentimentality that fall just on the right side of an overdose. And since the movie is so achingly earnest and unapologetic about its feelings for life, love and family, it’s hard not to give a pass and an assuring hair tussle.

Luckily for Curtis, he happens to have some very nice performances to fill out his story’s relationships. Gleeson is a relative unknown, but he’s a charming lead and a rather funny one as well. Watch his flustered face during when he meets alternate timeline Mary’s boyfriend and anxiously interrogates them for information about their first meeting. It’d be awfully weird and potentially creepy if Gleeson didn’t play it so sincere.

McAdams can play these kinds of romance roles in her sleep at this point in her career. However, she’s still a naturally warm and endearing on-screen presence. Together, the two create a small but strong spark. Throw in Nighy’s absolutely precious father figure, and the whole clan makes for pleasantly relaxed company that’s easy to root for.    

Curtis, one of the rom-com genre’s finer writers, gives the film an equally unharried pace that feels just about right while pumping in a good amount of clever, really funny dialogue. A post-date dinner conversation between Tim and Mary is a witty delight, bantering about prostitutes and Mary’s job as a professional reader. Much like in his previous hits, there’s just a little tangy touch to the humor that nicely balances out the story’s sweetness and keeps it from becoming syrup.

"About Time" tries very hard for its tears (it’s not hard to guess that somebody isn’t going to survive to see the end credits) and its adorably quirky touches. The family, for instance, is whimsy-tastic. But the film also tries its best to really earn these things, and even if some of the small quirks seem excessive or false, the big emotions and connections between characters feel right. The audience watches these relationships grow naturally – even with the unnatural time jumping stuff – and gets really nicely invested in their lives.

I didn’t cry, but I was surprisingly quite touched. It’s about as much a movie can swaddle an audience in warmth and coziness before the screen can no longer handle all of the charming cuteness and spontaneously combusts into puppies.