In Time, which is set to be released on DVD and Blur-Ray January 31, is one of those movies that remind you of so many others (Bonnie and Clyde/Robin Hood/Logan’s Run) yet I truly liked what I was seeing. I also thought Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried played their parts great. Was it a great love story to end all love stories? No, but I believed them both in what they were trying to achieve, which was tell a story about how the rich keep on getting rich and the poor no matter how hard they work are still poor.
Amanda was doe-eyes throughout most of the film, which worked for her here, even with a gun in her hand. Justin, I thought did good as a leading man, from being the dutiful son to his own version of Robin Hood. Cillian Murphy, he was great as the Timekeeper who refused to stop, though I admit saying he was 25 was a stretch.
Movie synopsis:
In the future, time has become the ultimate currency and genetic alteration has allowed people to stop aging at 25 years old. Upon reaching 25, the countdown begins and in order to stay alive everyone must work to buy themselves more time or die within a year. The rich can buy their way out of the situation, while the rest are left to negotiate for immortality. When a struggling young man, Will Salas (Timberlake), comes in contact with a “millionaire,” he is gifted more time than he can imagine. Falsely accused of murder, Will is a fugitive on the run and becomes determined to bring down the entire system by any means possible.
Before watching the movie, I read so many reviews that hated this movie and the plot, so I watched the DVD with a bit of apprehension, and after viewing I can honestly say I enjoyed the premise.
I loved the idea of time being the new currency. I liked how dystopian the world truly was even though everyone was truly beautiful from the thugs like Alex Pettyfer as a Minute Man to Vincent Kartheiser who played Philippe Weis, Slyvia’s father who is 85 years old. I like how the Minute Men kept the peace by stealing other’s time, to assure that no one had more than was given, and though they didn’t seem to do much, the Timekeeper’s was also a pretty interesting idea.
But at the same time I can see why so many also were upset by it.
First off, why was the world’s population genetically altered? For what purpose? Was it to make the world a much more beautiful place, even though ugliness was right under the surface?
Then there is the fact that there was no apparent government governing anything, only Timekeeper’s who only seemed to work for the rich and of course the Minute Men who steal time as they see fit. But you know this is a dystopian movie and not all dystopian works revolve around a central government. Instead they have people who are rich living lavish lives while the poor live in ghettos, living day by day and where thugs keep order. Sounds like In Time follows this rule.
The other thing is that while it is the future, the tech and vehicles driven don’t reflect the year 2161. Could it be that man has been so focused on time as a commodity and a way of life that the pursuit of technology has become a secondary thing? This really makes sense if you think about it. Why pursue things to make things better when you clearly have an eternity if you’re rich or who has time to pursue it if all you have to do is live day by day, barely eking out an existence?
But what is the central story being told here? That beauty and immortality is all that these people have to live for. I admit watching a gorgeous Olivia Wilde play a 50 year old woman was a bit much, especially as she was playing Justin’s mother, yet by the end of movie I understood this was the direction the Andrew Niccol wanted, that time and beauty go hand in hand.
With the DVD you get deleted/extended scenes which a few actually help the story along. While the Blu-Ray offers a featurette.
All in all I enjoyed the movie for what it was which is just another retelling of a Robin Hood type who goes out of his way to help the poor. Grade for the DVD is a B-.
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