In Time

I'm a sucker for any sort of futuristic movie about societies that are oppressed by "the man", who's citizens have to fight back against the system or escape imprisonment, so I have been looking forward to seeing In Time since I saw the trailer several months ago.

This movie is about a world where people barter with their time as opposed to money. Everyone has a digital clock on their arm that shows them how much time they have left before they die. They can earn, spend, or trade their time with each other. Most of the poor only have 24 hours on their clocks and frantically live day to day in order to survive. As someone who lives paycheck to paycheck and sometimes just tries to make it through another day financially, I could relate to their plight.

Justin Timberlake plays Will Salas who is given a century of additional life by a mysterious stranger. He then sets out on a mission against the corrupt powers that have kept him and the masses down for years. Along the way he encounters a rich girl who he kidnaps and they essentially become Bonnie and Clyde as they try to take the system down.

In time has some elements of Logan's Run and Gattaca. It was interesting to see so many young actors in this movie portraying people of all ages since the aging process stops at 25. I thought for being a science fiction movie, they would have better technology, but the cars were old models and people didn't even have cell phones. 

The movie contrasts the poor in the ghettos who's clocks often run down to minutes versus the super wealthy who have thousands of years to live. There are some not so subtle political statements about class indifference in this movie. I didn't care for the insinuations that the wealthy are the reason why the poor suffer in real life, but I tried not to let any political messages ruin it for me.

I thought Justin Timberlake was good in this role except for the one scene when he tried introducing himself like James Bond. Cillian Murphy was great as the persistent time keeper (cop) who tries to track Salas down. He reminded me of Javert from Les Miserables because he is so relentless and obsessed with getting his man.

I give In Time 7.1 stars. It has it's problems, but I felt it was much better than the critics said it was. I thought the concept of exchanging time with money was enough to make the movie entertaining and thought provoking, despite it's weaknesses. Also, If I were Justin Timberlake I would have petitioned to re-name the movie "Just-In Time".