Justin Timberlake Stars in Andrew Niccol’s Sci-Fi Movie ‘In Time‘
Director Andrew Niccol’s In Time stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried as 25+ year olds who are stuck in a world where people stop aging physically at that age ’til the end of time. The only question is – is how long people live past that point. How that is determined is by how much “time” they have left. Time is like money – aha a metaphor! – in In Time, so it can be passed on from one person to the next, it can be stolen, it can be gambled, you earn time through work, etc. The more time you have, the longer you will live. In Niccol’s world, some people have lived for well over a hundred years. And even if that sounds like fun, it can wear on a person mentally.
We are thrust into this futuristic world immediately when Timberlake’s Will greets his mother Rachel (Olivia Wilde), as they, naturally, look about the same age, although Rachel is celebrating her 50th birthday. When Will encounters a man who draws attention to himself and might end up getting killed as a result, Will attempts to save him. Unfortunately, while Will temporarily succeeds, this man was cursed with having too much time on his hands, more than a hundred years and he already was 150 years old (though he looked 25, again). The man commits suicide, gives Will all his time and Will is framed for the murder.
"Breakin' the law, breakin' the law!" Timberlake and Seyfried avoid the Timekeepers.
‘In Time’ Used to be called ‘Im.Mortal’, an Equally Silly Title
Will uses his time to move to a better area, but is completely out of place among the rich, people that “come from time.” Seyfried’s Sylvia is one such person, the daughter of one of the most-wealthy men in this world we are in. Will kidnaps her when the authorities known as “Timekeepers” (mainly Cilian Murphy) come to put Will in jail. Thus the chase is on, as Will and Sylvia dodge the authorities throughout this world, nearly running out of time at several opportunities.
Describing the whole premise is a bit exhausting and the only thing you really need to know when you are watching is that it is a “chase” movie. That is unfortunately my biggest gripe with the film. It’s fun enough, but also reduced to standard fare, while the duo dodge the cops, fall in love and you have your usual twists and turns. Niccol makes the world look pretty enough, but the premise is a little weird to grasp and the love story a bit forced.
In Time has a clever premise and should be respected for trying to step out from something basic and put a new spin on it. For me, it was all a little too cutesy though and when the time on the movie ran out, a shrug was about all I could muster. If you like sci-fi or Niccol, you might feel differently, otherwise, I would say this is simply an average film. Rentable, but don’t waste too much time with it.
