In Time (02/11/11)
In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Here, Will Salas finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage – a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system.
The man who brought us this film, Andrew Niccol, also brought us Gattaca, Lord of War and The Truman Show. Ok, so he also brought us S1mo0ne, but I’m ignoring that. In Time has a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite hit the heights of Gattaca, it’s more Gattaca-lite. But I’m ok with that.
From the beginning you’re told as a viewer to accept the circumstances the film is set in or not. Which I’m also ok with. I was happy to accept a future where people don’t age past 25.
But from the get go, it’s also driven home that time is a commodity. Over, and over and over again. It’s an interesting concept, but they weren’t subtle with it. You could say the film was a take on what’s going on in the world’s economics today – instead of money, you’ve got time.
Justin Timberlake did as well as he could in the lead. He lacks certain amounts of emotional gravitas for some scenes. But I can’t say that I dislike him turning to acting. Amanda Seyfried is great – I’d love to know her secret of how in the hell she managed to run in all those crazy heels she was wearing!
It’s an ok film. The pacing’s good, the characters are engaging. It won’t blow your mind like Gattaca or The Truman Show, but it’ll entertain you.
Rating: 3/5
Read on to see the entire list of movies seen this year so far:
89 Movies so far this Year
- The Horse Whisperer 3/5 (01/01/11)
- The Informant! 3/5 (09/01/11)
- The Fighter 4/5 (11/01/11)
- 127 Hours 5/5 (14/01/11)
- The Wolfman 3/5 (15/01/11)
- Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story 4/5 (16/01/11)
- The King’s Speech 5/5 (19/01/11)
- The Town 4/5 (20/01/11)
- Ninja Assassin 2/5 (24/01/11)
- He’s Just Not That Into You 1/5 (25/01/11)
- Imagine That 1/5 (27/01/11)
- Gentlemen Broncos 2/5 (04/02/11)
- Hachi: A Dog’s Tale 4/5 (06/02/11)
- Daybreakers 3/5 (12/02/11)
- The Book of Eli 2/5 (13/02/11)
- True Grit 4/5 (15/02/11)
- Red 1/5 (19/02/11)
- Invictus 3/5 (20/02/11)
- Coraline 2/5 (28/02/11)
- Juno 3/5 (02/03/11)
- Monsters vs. Aliens 1/5 (06/03/11)
- Jennifer’s Body 2/5 (06/03/11)
- Rango 4/5 (09/03/11)
- The Crazies 4/5 (11/03/11)
- Lakeview Terrace 1/5 (12/03/11)
- Battle: Los Angeles 3/5 (13/03/11)
- Submarine 4/5 (14/03/11)
- The Adjustment Bureau 2/5 (16/03/11)
- Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief 2/5 (18/03/11)
- The Happening 1/5 (19/03/11)
- Sucker Punch 2/5 (02/04/11)
- Carriers 1/5 (03/04/11)
- Source Code 4/5 (06/04/11)
- 3:10 to Yuma 3/5 (09/04/11)
- Walking Tall 1/5 (12/04/11)
- Your Highness 3/5 (13/04/11)
- El Mariachi 3/5 (14/03/11)
- From Paris With Love 3/5 (15/04/11)
- Scream 4 3/5 (16/04/11)
- Hot Tub Time Machine 2/5 (17/04/11)
- Attack the Block 4/5 (20/04/11)
- The International 2/5 (23/04/11)
- Thor 5/5 (25/04/11)
- Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist 5/5 (28/04/11)
- A Beautiful Mind 4/5 (06/05/11)
- Extract 2/5 (05/05/11)
- Hanna 4/5 (06/05/11)
- Catfish 3/5 (07/05/11)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 2/5 (20/05/11)
- The Hangover Part II 3/5 (27/05/11)
- How to Train Your Dragon 4/5 (28/05/11)
- Zodiac 4/5 (28/05/11)
- Up in the Air 5/5 (30/05/11)
- X-Men: First Class 4/5 (01/06/11)
- Electra Luxx 3/5 (04/06/11)
- The Usual Suspects 5/5 (05/06/11)
- Senna 5/5 (10/06/11)
- The Human Centipede 1/5 (10/06/11)
- Green Lantern 2/5 (17/06/11)
- Paul 3/5 (18/06/11)
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon 4/5 (29/06/11)
- Predators 2/5 (30/07/11)
- Captain America: The First Avenger 3/5 (31/07/11)
- Super 8 5/5 (11/08/11)
- The Secret in Their Eyes 5/5 (13/08/11)
- [Rec] 2 3/5 (14/08/11)
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes 4/5 (16/08/11)
- Cowboys & Aliens 4/5 (18/08/11)
- Final Destination 5 4/5 (19/08/11)
- Micmacs 3/5 (21/08/11)
- Conan the Barbarian 3/5 (27/08/11)
- Legion 1/5 (27/08/11)
- Limitless 3/5 (29/08/11)
- Apollo 18 1/5 (02/09/11)
- The Warriors 4/5 (04/09/11)
- Ondine 3/5 (07/09/11)
- TrollHunter 5/5 (09/09/11)
- Burke & Hare 2/5 (16/09/11)
- Jackass 3 3/5 (16/09/11)
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 5/5 (23/09/11)
- Drive 4/5 (28/09/11)
- Don’t be Afraid of the Dark 4/5 (12/10/11)
- Paranormal Activity 3 3/5 (21/10/11)
- I Am Number Four 3/5 (23/10/11)
- Contagion 3/5 (25/10/11)
- The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn 4/5 (27/10/11)
- The Thing 4/5 (29/10/11)
- The Ides of March 5/5 (01/11/11)
- In Time 3/5 (02/11/11)
The sci-fi premise really has me interested but I wish this would have had a better director and a classier, non-MTV cast. I will probably rent this when it gets on Netflix.
The MTV cast is a bit eh, but the likes of Collins Murphy does lift it up a little. It’s not a bad film, just very forgettable.
I think Niccol really needs someone to go over his scripts and give them a good, judicious edit and apply some polish. In Time‘s biggest problem for me was bloat– there’s just too much going on and most of it doesn’t end up going anywhere. Not the worst movie I’ve seen this year but it squanders a ton of its premise’s potential.
Definitely agree. It was perfectly watchable but he didn’t capitilize properly on the moments that counted in the film. It’s got the whole commentary on our current economy, a bit of romance, the business of business, corruption in police forces, too much going on!