‘Time IS money’ is the narrative anchor for everything that transpires during ‘In Time’- set in a future where everyone is genetically programmed to stop ageing at 25 (there’s nothing worse than ageing in Hollywood), time is used as currency (3 minutes for a phone call, years for a car, and so forth). Everyone has a year left once they turn 25 (indicated on clocks on their arm), and the poor must work or steal more time before it runs out, while the rich seemingly live forever. Ghetto kid Will (Justin Timberlake) hits the jackpot when he receives a century from a man who turns up dead a short while later, putting him in the frame for murder. With the help of rich woman Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), Will must survive being chased by the feared ‘Time Keeper’ (Cillian Murphy) and find out why he was given this fortune before it’s too late.
This is a movie with a lot of flaws, not least the central premise of ‘time currency’, which feels a lot like ‘Logan’s Run’ without the originality (or jumpsuits). Still, the plot is intriguing enough to get you thinking, and in the process care about Timberlake as he and Seyfried run through this nightmarish future. Not as original as they would like you to believe, the story is filled with on-the-nose metaphors for present day society and the class divide between rich and poor (it appears writer/director Andrew Niccol has an axe to grind), but both visually and in terms of action, it’s watchable and sporadically thrilling.
Apparently to live in this future you also have to be good looking, as this gorgeous cast add to the director’s sleek aesthetic. Timberlake is an almost tailor made Hollywood lead - enough presence and looks to gloss over his occasionally limited abilities (although, as ‘The Social Network’ proved, he can give a great performance in the right role), the character of Will is vacant enough for him to fill it adequately. Elsewhere, Cillian Murphy’s terrifying ‘dead eye’ stare, that has seen him rank up no end of creepy roles, is almost enough in itself to make him a capable villain as ‘The Time Keeper’, while Wilde and Seyfried are fine, without ever being stand-out, as the easy-on-the-eye female leads.
The concept is a bit silly, and Niccol tends to veer off in strange directions, but ‘In Time’ has just enough to entertain, even if it never enthrals. Timberlake, Wilde and Seyfried make for pretty-yet-vacant stars, but the ‘what if’ scenario is enough to keep you interested for the duration. Disposable sci-fi action at its most dystopian.
'In Time' is on general release.
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