Director: Andrew Niccol
Screenplay: Andrew Niccol
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Vincent Kartheiser, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Olivia Wilde
One-sentence summary: In a world where time is currency, Will Salas is given a century's worth of time and soon discovers the sinister truth behind the "economic" inequality between his life in the ghetto and those at the top who have accumulated millennia, making them virtually immortal.
Review: I find that I'm attracted most to science fiction that is able to use some kind of concept to shine a light on society. Dollhouse is an excellent example (though it's a TV series and not a movie, but it's an excellent TV series nonetheless). Sometimes it's really easy to let the concept overrun the point the story is trying to make, and I'm happy to say that In Time is not one of those films.
The basic concept of the universe In Time is set in is that everyone stops physically aging at the age of 25 and then a biological clock is switched on that lets them know how much time they have left before they die. Time is currency in the film; you work for it, you spend it. Those at the top of the "economic" ladder have hundreds, if not thousands of years. Those who live in the ghetto live day to day, constantly in danger of timing out. It costs time to travel between "time zones," ensuring that it's difficult for the average layperson to move up economically.
I'm sure by now you realize how socially relevant the movie is right now. Three words: Occupy Wall Street.
It's pretty crazy how perfectly timed (no pun intended) the movie's release was. A happy accident, I'm sure. I'm curious to see how many people pick up on the movie's idea that everyone deserves a chance to live the "American dream" and that those at the top are unfairly keeping all their time to themselves. It's insane to see Phillippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser) have over nine millennia on him when Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) was lucky to even have 24 hours. Of course, this leads into the movie's Robin Hood-like plot when Will and Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried) decide to steal time to distribute to everyone in the ghetto.
If there was maybe one criticism I had to say about the movie, it's that it's so packed full of scenes and ideas that it feels much longer than its 109 minutes. Really, I think it's worth it. If you're the thinking type, you're going to leave the theater with a fresh perspective on current events.
Okay, and maybe the movie's concept was an excuse to cast all pretty people, but overlook that!
Final word: In Time is a smart, relevant take on economic inequality that perhaps surprisingly turns out to be a futuristic spin on Robin Hood.
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