Imagine a future where everyone is gorgeous, doesn’t age beyond twenty-five and pays for everything with time (literally) and you’ve got yourself an intriguing idea.
Andrew Niccol’s In Time does have a phenomenal premise – and though it doesn’t soar very far beyond it –it’s an entertaining watch.
In Niccol’s world, if you’re poor, you may only have an hour left to live – and if you’re part of the wealthy elite – you’ve got a shot at immortality (and you’re twenty five, forever – what a deal!).
As time is currency, the film is positively littered with time puns and quips, and there were a few times (ha) I wanted to shout “enough already!” at the screen. The no aging phenomenon led to a cast of hot actors across the board, including Olivia Wilde as Timberlake’s mother, which was fun.
Justin Timberlake plays Will Solace, an average Joe living in the slums, living from hour to hour, until he is thrown into a series of circumstances that have him on the run, charged with murder and kidnapping.
The plot is set in motion when a suicidal man from ritzy New Greenwich stumbles into the ghetto to recklessly rid himself of his immortality. When Will helps him to escape from a band of thugs, he unloads a century of time onto his clock before his graceful end off a bridge. Timekeeper Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy) believes there’s foul play – so he hunts down Will to set the clock straight. But Will finagles his way into high society, gambling himself some more time and gaining a golden invitation to millionaire Philippe Weis (Mad Men’s Vincent Kartheiser)’s party. There, he meets Weis’ daughter, Sylvia (wide-eyed Amanda Seyfried), and they have a risky rendezvous skinny dipping in the ocean, which devolves into something between Bonnie and Clyde, Robin Hood, and a spy thriller. Amanda Seyfried is miraculously able to run in 5-inch heels for a very, very long time.
In Time is a collage of genres– there is lots of action, fancy cars, romance and a sci-fi angle of this Darwinian capitalism. Yet, while definitely playing off of the sour state of the world economy, the film falls short in exploring this avenue, besides beating to death the idea that the rich live at the literal expense of the poor’s lives.
In Time is at its best in the scenes with Cillian Murphy whose hard-edged demeanor is satisfying on screen and his take on acting more seasoned than Timberlake’s. They play a huge game of cat and mouse: a war between Leon’s sense of duty and righteousness and Will Solace’s desire to be Robin Hood.
In Time is a pleasure to watch – but it isn’t revolutionary. The idea is great – but without any real exposition, it falls short.
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Dear Muse Staff,
I did not entitle this article “Justin Timberlake is a time cop, think about it,” think about it. The plot of the movie was the reverse… Ho ho, happy holidays!