In the vein of director Andrew Niccol’s dystopian sci-fi film Gattaca (1997), the futuristic science-fiction action-thriller In Time is one helluva Hollywood ride. It’s a race against time and a Bonnie & Clyde-inspired chaser with a palpable plot device fusing philosophical musings about time and class structures while remaining thoroughly lightweight entertainment. The only major flaw? Justin Timberlake, who proves he’s the male equivalent of Madonna when it comes to the big screen.
Timberlake plays Will Salas, an average guy who lives in the ghettos of a futuristic metropolis with his mother Rachel (an underused Olivia Wilde). Poor folks like them have the shortest lifespans as they have been “cheated” out of their resources by the rich in the Greenwich time zone, who can live for a couple of a hundred years. It’s a system meant to reduce the world’s overpopulation (the poor die faster), which Will is determined to topple after Rachel dies in his arms following an unexpected claim on her timeline. He journeys to Greenwich after inheriting a couple of hundred years from a rich but suicidal man facing an existential crisis (don’t laugh). And with the help of adventurous young heiress Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), the two start robbing time banks to give to the poor, while being chased by “Timekeeper” Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy).
The plot may sound a tad ridiculous, but under Niccol’s keen eye and cinematographer Roger Deakins’ (No Country for Old Men, The Shawshank Redemption) masterful vision of the future, In Time is fun, compelling, and a sight to behold. Like most Hollywood thrillers, there are numerous plot holes, but Niccol keeps things going with car chases, shootout scenes, stylized sets, cool time devices, a beautiful cast and plenty of greedy characters on the sidelines. It’s all neatly packaged, except leading man Timberlake simply cannot act. (The scene where he has to emote after his mom dies is particularly painful to watch.) Hardly perfect, In Time is still about as good as blockbuster films get these days.
