It’s not hard to spend a few hours watching Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield fall and fall in love. In ‘We live in time’ filmmaker John Crowley brings audiences up close and personal with this photogenic British couple through the highs and lows of a relationship in their thirties.

Everyone starts to think about the idea of ​​time, and that at some point he doesn’t have enough of it to do everything he wants. But it seems to hit many of us very acutely in that difficult, beautiful third decade. There is of course that cruel biological clock, but also careers, homes and families that are getting older. Throw in a cancer diagnosis and that timer becomes increasingly aggressive.

Although we, and Tobias (Garfield) and Almut (Pugh), do indeed live in time, as we are constantly reminded in ways large and small (clocks and stopwatches are ever-present, literally and figuratively), the film floats above it. The story jumps back and forth through time like a loose memory as we piece together these lives that intersect in an elaborate, mystical and darkly comic way: Almut runs into Tobias with her car. Their first conversation is in a hospital hallway, with those bright fluorescent lights and he’s bruised and cut all over. But he is so in awe of this beautiful woman in front of him that he hardly cares.

I suppose this could be considered a Lubitschian “meet-cute,” even if it knowingly pushes the boundaries of our understanding of that romantic trope. Before the blow, Tobias was in a hotel trying to sign divorce papers. His pens were empty and the pencils kept breaking. In a fit of near-mania, he leaves, dressed only in his bathrobe, to go to a corner store and buy more. While walking back, he drops something on the street and boom: a new relationship is born. It’s the ultimate metaphor for the out-of-body vulnerability it takes to fall in love.

Both wait for several moments of mania, especially around a baby who isn’t ready to come out yet – until it is and they’re nowhere near the hospital. I won’t spoil it, but it’s one of the funnier, more emotional, and more memorable birth scenes I’ve ever seen on screen. It’s one of those scenes where you don’t expect tears, but there they are.

Speaking of tears, there is a certain expectation, or assumption, that a movie likes ‘We live in time’ will leave you a wreck, heaving with sobs all over your body. This was not my experience. Tear counts aren’t exactly a science or even a reliable measure of quality: there have been really bad movies that have had that effect and great movies that haven’t. But I did wonder why, especially considering the way Crowley knocked it out of the park “Brooklyn.”

Nick Payne’s script also leaves some things to be desired, especially in terms of Almut’s portrayal. At 34, she’s already a Michelin-starred chef and has a whole past life of athletic success, which we find out more about. And yet, when he asks her early in her relationship with Tobias if she wants children, she turns away. There are bad ways to approach this topic with women, but her response felt unnatural, especially considering that it’s completely reasonable for adults who are getting serious to start this conversation early. Instead, he’s the one who comes back and apologizes. Her decisions are a bit curious and will likely inspire some post-screening chats.

The final child is also little more than a beautiful prop, with no spark or personality. We never see a tantrum, or a need or desire from her that doesn’t drag the adult story along. She is simply shorthand for what will be left if Almut does not win the battle against cancer.

The main reason to see “We Live In Time,” however, isn’t the promise of crying or the reality of having a young child, but the quietly poignant performances from Pugh and Garfield, which seem to fit right into the mold of likable guys we have. we all celebrate now thanks Adam Brody’s Hot Rabbi. It’s charming and silly and sometimes cringey – other people’s relationships always are – and ultimately it works extremely well because of them and their great chemistry.

“We Live in Time,” an A24 release in New York and Los Angeles on Friday and nationally Oct. 18, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “language, sexuality and nudity.” Running time: 107 minutes. Three stars out of four.