As a fan of both Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, it was a given that I would kick off “In Time.” Both stars have been extremely successful in the box office and with movies like “Mean Girls” and “Bad Teacher” under their belts. However, I wasn’t really sure I could see either one of them as an action star. I was right.
The premise of the story is that people are genetically engineered to stop aging at 25. There is one small caveat; once they turn 25 a clock on their arms starts counting down the time they have to live. This time is also used as currency and most people don’t have enough to live The main character, Will Salas, lives day to day hoping to wake up with more hours on his arm then are in the day.
Will gains a decade and some perspective on the time system after meeting with a man who has lived for about 105 years. The Henry is tired of being alive, and gives Will all his time as a reward for helping him.
Will uses his new-found wealth to move to New Greenwich, where the rich live. Will quickly falls in with the Weis family after a game of poker with Phillipe Weis. Will wins nearly eight hundred years and is invited to Phillipe’s party the next day. While he is there, he talks to Phillipe’s daughter, Sylvia. The “Timekeepers” or cops come and take all of his time.
The rest of the movie is a mix of overly dramatic lines and action sequences. The two quickly fall in love and pull a Robin Hood routine by crashing trucks into banks and inviting people to empty them out. Then they turn to Phillipe and his million years. They quickly steal the time and destroy the hierarchical system that keeps the rich separated from the poor.
While the movie was decent in terms of action, and there are plenty of entertaining chase scenes, it was a pretty cheesy movie altogether. The lines they deliver are pretentious at best. The worst easily being Will saying:
“No one should be immortal if even one person has to die.”
Amanda Seyfried and Justin Timberlake should stick to comic movies, because neither one is cutting it as an action star.
The ideas behind the movie are good and the premise is even better, but everything is half formed. Will’s father is mentioned several times as a reformist and it is implied that he may have been killed because of it, but is never confirmed or really delved into. Same with idea of time zones. They are supposed to be the different areas of varying amounts of wealth, but only two are ever shown: Tte ghetto, where Will lives, and New Greenwich, where Sylvia comes from.
My conclusion? It was an enjoyable film with good parts, but if you see it don’t expect anything life changing.
