Film Review: In Time

Helen Keller once said ideas without action are worthless. While that may be true, the action might not live up to the idea. The idea: In the undefined future, time is no longer money, time literally is money. Can Andrew Niccol spin a great yarn from such a fascinating concept?

In Time is a sci-fi action thriller that presents you with one of the freshest and most interesting worlds in recent  years. Basically, some time in the future, mankind will have discovered technology capable of altering the genetic code of humans to stop aging at 25. Then you simply stay at that age, but a built-in timer on your arm begins counting down a single year. From there on you pay for everything with time and get paid in same manner. People can transfer time between themselves, both legally and illegally (think muggings). It doesn’t  take a genius to see how that would go with all of humanity’s failings. The film is basically a melting pot of Bonnie & Clyde, Robin Hood and Logan’s Run, cribbing elements from each tell its tale.

If Niccol had taken it in its own direction we would’ve ended up with something truly extraordinary. Sadly he’s content with the classic storyline and in all fairness does a pretty solid job with it. The script, for the most part, is quite good, complete with pretty good dialogue (thankfully devoid of an over-reliance on “time”-related puns) but it’s clear he wrote himself into a corner on a few occasions. That’s readily apparent with Alex Pettyfer’s character existing  for the sole purpose of quickly advancing the plot when it gets stuck. Plot threads are also left dangling, most prominently that of the main character’s father, while it adds some vital details but never really goes anywhere despite numerous hints. Some things also feel a bit rushed and easy. For example, if those time banks are so simple to knock off, why hasn’t anyone done it? Niccol does handle the heavy themes well, though. He gives the issue of the rich versus the poor a certain gravity that it deserves. He also asks excellent questions such as what the point of living forever is if you’re just going to live inside a cocoon of bodyguards?

Justin Timberlake continues to be one of the most likable male actors in Hollywood. He might not be able to completely handle a few of the more dramatically heavy moments but performs admirably for the rest of it. His character is thrust into a world he doesn’t know when a exuberantly rich man (White Collar‘s charming Matt Bomer) gives him all of his time and Timberlake is subsequently accused of murdering him. Amanda Seyfried brings her peculiar but beautiful looks to the table. But that’s not to say that she doesn’t have any acting chops, as she’s really good as the sheltered rich girl daughter of the main antagonist, played in a rather standard but slimy way by Mad Men‘s Vincent Kartheiser, that lets loose when she meets our hero.

Outside of our main duo, it’s only the always excellent Cillian Murphy that gets much to do. He’s also a genuinely interesting character, a cop (or timekeeper) stuck between the two tiers of civilization. Filmophilia favorite Olivia Wilde shows up for a few scenes as Timberlake’s mother, and Johnny Galecki as his best friend. Both do their roles justice and lend some emotional context to the hero’s journey. The aforementioned Pettyfer is definitely better when uses his natural English accent as he does here and overall he’s alright in the role but isn’t much more than a plot device.

The technical elements are disappointingly standard, though the camera stays thankfully steady for the action sequences. The production design is top-notch though, it  completely sells you on the world they try to build and it ends up beautifully realized. The difference between the ghetto and the upscale New Greenwich is obvious just by looking at it. There’s only one instance of CGI in the film and it’s off-puttingly bad. On the bright side, there’s a fantastic little touch in that all the cars are spiced up and shiny classic cars. That green glowing timer also has the capacity to become an iconic sci-fi image. There are thrilling scenes here and there, to its credit a couple of them feature excellent tension building, that though doesn’t stop it from being a mostly run-of-the-mill sci-fi action flick. But it’s never not entertaining. That along with the fresh concept makes up for a lot of the film’s other failings.

Final Verdict: In Time simply doesn’t deliver what the concept deserves. It’s a film that simultaneously deserves to be applauded for originality and chastised for being derivative. It’s still worth seeing as it’s pretty entertaining and has some rather interesting things to say about society.

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• ‘In Time’ Review: Andrew Niccol Tries to Occupy Sci-Fi (slashfilm.com)
• Daily Trailer: In Time Worth Your Time? (filmophilia.com)