IN TIME: 2 STARS
“In Time,” a new sci fi film starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, is as timely a movie as will be released this year. It’s an allegory for the haves and the have nots. In this case 1% of the population controls 99% of the world’s most precious commodity–time. Instead of occupying parks, however, our hero JT sets out get time back on his side.
This movie has a lot of time of its hands, or should I say forearms. “In Time” takes place in a world where people are genetically engineered to stop aging at twenty-five. Sounds like Eden, but this is a dystopian world where once the calendar clicks on your twenty-fifth birthday the clock starts ticking. Literally. A digital readout appears on your forearm and you have one year until time runs out. But, because time is money–again, literally–your wages top up your clock, buying more time. When a time millionaire willingly gives Will Salas (Timberlake) a century of his time, Salas finds himself on the run from the Time Keeper police and one step closer to discovering the secret link between immortality and poverty.
Insert the word “money” for “time” at any point during “In Time” and the story reveals how run-of-the-mill it is. Stripped of its sci fi premise it should have been an interesting comment on the divide between rich and poor but, is instead, content to be a tepid action film. Not smart enough to be an interesting metaphor and not wild enough to be a thriller it falls between the cracks.
JT hands in a performance that makes you wish he would bring the sexy back. The more leads he does in movies, the more i can’t help but think his triumph in “The Social Network” was some kind of fluke.
But, as bad as the movie is Amanda Seyfried somehow remains compelling. She is so unusual looking, like an alien cupie doll, and that otherworldliness gives some flavor to her disconnected rich girl character.
Neither is helped by a script which provides as many unintentional laughs as genuine ones and whose idea of witty banter is: “You forget I almost killed you a few times.” “I’m willing to overlook that.”
“In Time” has an interesting-ish premise, but unfortunately there is not enough quality time in the movie to earn a recommend.
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