In Time (2011)

Time is money!

Imagine a world where time becomes the currency, and you trade minutes, hours, even years of your life in order to pay for stuff. Well, that is the world inhabited by JT (that’s Justin Timberlake for anyone born before the turn of the century), and it is a world filled with class divisions and social repression.

We are welcomed into the world of Will (JT), who is a live-life-by-the-day kind of guy - not because he wants to, but because he has to. Will lives in the ghetto where most people only have a day or so on their lifespan, constantly working and trading for more time in order to avoid the big sleep. Using the brightly lit digital clocks which seem to have been transposed onto people’s wrists, everyone’s time allowance is clearly visible (imagine if Casio started a human science division).

Another aspect of this futuristic world, is that people stop aging at twenty-five-years-old. From there they are given a year and must make the most of what they have got/earn. This has created vast class differences amongst the population, who are actually segregated into different cities depending on wealth.

Will, after a run in with a disillusioned old man (who still looks mid-twenties), is given a bucket load of time. At first, he uses the new wealth to better his life and some of those around him, but soon finds himself in with the upper classes, and then on the run from the Time Keepers (led by the brilliant Cillian Murphy), a quasi-police unit who ensure the balance is maintained.

In terms of story, there is a lot going on here. A lot of heavy science fiction ideas floating around, and the dedication to the futuristic world in the movie should be applauded. Where the film falls down, however, is the script - which makes too many “time” jokes, using all the clichés it could get its hands on, and feels clunky in the hands of this cast. Furthermore, Timberlake is a moderate choice for the lead, which could have gone to an actor who has proven his chops within this field - I’m thinking the likes of Christian Bale or Edward Norton.

Amanda Seyfried puts in a steady performance, if making her character quite one-dimensional, but Murphy steals most scenes with his total morality and violent tendencies.

All in all, not a bad film by any means. It will entertain most for the duration (which is slightly too long in my opinion), but do not expect the likes of heavy hitting sci-fi films, but rather a surface-level exploration of a great idea.