Rtold differently, Love in the present could have been included in the category “yet another cancer drama film”, and the love story of Almut and Tobias would have ended up, forgotten, at the bottom of the drawer of the film's screenwriter Nick Payne. But that's not the case.
John Crowley's film follows the married life of these two British lovers, around thirty years old, who together, over half a decade, will go through many trials. One, Andrew Garfield, aka Tobias, is a salesman at the cereal company Weetabix. A vulnerable and attentive man – in the iconic genre of the romantic gentleman of British cinema, without achieving Hugh Grant perfection – while the other, Almut (Florence Pugh) is a renowned and extremely competitive chef who quickly finds herself diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The couple then navigates questions about parentage, treatments, and a possible relapse. And this existential questioning for Almut: “Do I want a longer but depressing life, or a shorter and happy life? »
A real emotional puzzle
Rest assured, this is not a spoiler, and that is the subtlety and grandeur of the film: from initial love at first sight, to the cancer that strikes the chef – despite the time that separates the two events, or several years – we only take one step. If the substance of the plot is not particularly original, in the end, director John Crowley focuses on the form of the story, with a temporal deconstruction which allows us to avoid – or which tries, in any case – predictability events. The plans respond and echo each other, in their consequences on the couple's relationship. We oscillate between preparing a new Almut recipe one morning, before finding her pregnant the next shot, then to medical appointments for her cancer… Without it seeming suspicious.
In this sense, we must thank the work of editor Justine Wright, who presents the story through emotions rather than chronology, which gives Almut and Tobias time to meet, to discuss their desire to have a child, without suffocating the viewer, rushing the information or falling into the melodramatic. And then this game, between past and present, functions as a reward for the attentive spectator, who strives to put together the pieces of the emotional puzzle, without ever having to resort to temporal markers written on the screen.
A couple who are a little too friendly
Love in the present also, and above all, relates the meeting of two of the most talented actors of their generation, who have until now proven to be astonishingly reliable in the profession: Andrew Garfield, who appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man, Tu ne tueras point, Tick, Tick… Boom !, (what John Crowley directs for the second time since Boy A in 2007) and Florence Pugh, seen in Oppenheimer, Dune, Part II, and Midsommar. These two, in the organic alchemy genre, are here, however… unconvincing.
Both are good actors, and it is a joy to see two performers who are so confident and natural. But the two stars respond to each other without succeeding in bringing out the magic of the whirlwind of love, each in their role. We see them more as two friends, with an undeniable, but quite platonic, chemistry. It's strange, moreover, to see Florence Pugh say: “I saw Almut as a really determined single woman, completely normal, a woman in whom I could recognize myself and in whom, in my opinion, the public will recognize themselves Also. ” Bachelor ?
This sometimes unnatural love is perhaps also due to the profound inequality of development between the two characters. Tobias is only described as a salesman in a cereal company, who doesn't seem to excel, has no particular passion, while Almut is a former figure skating champion, turned Michelin star chef, specializing in cooking Anglo-Bavarian fusion! Make no mistake: the fact that Tobias is not boring to death is solely due to the work of a naturally charming Andrew Garfield, who knows how to breathe a minimum of life into his character. It also hurts to see him completely abandon himself to make the one he loves shine.ALSO READ How I wrote my dream film with AI
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Answer
It must be recognized that it is still pleasant to see a woman subvert the cliché of the “sick girl”, and the fact that Almut is the best written character prevents the film from falling into comparisons with similar productions, as Autumn Timein which it is the boy's passage to adulthood, alongside his sick wife, which is observed. Love in the presentif it is not perfect, remains intelligent and sensitive, Therapeutic and moving significance. Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield at least do everything they can to help lost souls reconnect with their departed ones. Together, they should make those who recklessly chase time think twice.
Love in the present, in the room.
