"In Time" Movie Review

What would you feel if every time spent is equivalent to every penny? Would you pay a restaurant bill for 8 1/2 weeks? And I am not talking about the number of days you will spend cleaning the dishes. "In Time" by 20th Century Fox, takes us to an alternate/futuristic universe where "time" is literally spent and used as currency (money), and every time spent is worth every minute of your life.

"In Time" Summary/Synopsis/Plot

"In Time" takes us to an alternate/futuristic universe where people stopped aging when they reached 25. After that, people must strive their best to live for another day by working and paid by time—their currency. "The Poor" work hard to earn their "time" to live, while "The Rich" literally can live a thousand years because they do not have to work—"time" was never a problem to them. On the other hand, "The Minutemen" roam the streets to steal "time" to people with lots of it, while "The Timekeepers" keep the time in order.

In order to live, people earn time and pay everything with time. But when they pay "time" this will be deducted to the number of years that they will live.

 When "The Poor" Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is falsely accused of a murder and is on the run, he meets the "The Rich" and beautiful lady, Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) and keeps her as his hostage. When Sylvia and Will were nabbed by some "Minutemen" on the streets, Sylvia and Will left with little "time" with them. They run for their lives, not just to find enough "time" to make it for another day, but also from "The Timekeeper" (Cillian Murphy) that has been hunting them since the two crossed "zones".

Struggling on their lack of "time", Will and Sylvia must do whatever it takes in order to live longer, before they become "timed out".


A movie with a nice plot...

The screenplay/story of the movie "In Time" is something that reminds me of "Equilibrium" (Taye Diggs and Christian Bale)—a futuristic-scifi movie with a touch of philosophy (it may be social awareness, politics, separation of rich and poor, power, money, guns and goons, etc.) The plot may be similar to this, but this is something unique, I promise you that. I like the way how the movie was presented—linear and in free flowing, chronological order storytelling technique. The idea that "time" is being used to pay for everyday commodities is something different. Originality is always the key to a good plot.

The pacing of the movie is somehow slow, but this is okay because giving the mood for the movie's time setting and building each character helps the somehow slow pace. "Timed out" is something I liked in the film. A person must survive his/her everyday life by wisely spending his/her time or else he/she will be timed out.

The movie is not colorful maybe because it is meant to have a dark story with overlaying plot of love story (though the love story plot is only minimal). But the vision of this alternate universe/world of director Andrew Niccol in "In Time" captures every moment important in the film. From the gadgets and tools, equipment, building structure, the ghetto, the different time zones, etc., everything is quite helpful visually.


... but with a shallow storyline...

Yes, I really liked how the movie is presented, the production, the plot, but there is something really lacking in the movie itself. Honestly, the storyline lacks some depth somewhere in the film but can be forgivable in a way because of the heart-pounding and heart-stopping moments of the two main characters, Sylvia and Will. You will be hooked on how the two literally run for their lives before they become timed out. But that just it. I guess this is just a strategy if a sequel will be pushed through in the future. Something like the movie "Push" (Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning) has done some years ago... and oh.. I'm still waiting for the sequel of it!

I really like to have a sequel for this movie "In Time" because I think, everything is not yet resolved towards the end of the movie. This is not a spoiler but something really to look forward to if a sequel will really push through.

In the end, the movie "In Time" starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried is a commendable movie for people who are into philosophical, political, satirely presented, movie with a touch of sci-fi and futuristic plot. Below is the trailer of "In Time". "In Time" is now showing in Philippine cinemas, nationwide! Enjoy watching the film because I enjoyed watching it!