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| Photo Credit |
Director: Andrew Niccol
Cast: Justin Timberlake (Will), Amanda Seyfried (Sylvia), Cillian Murphy (Raymond)
Release Date: October 28th 2011
I made my way to the cinema this weekend to watch the film In Time featuring the singer-turned-actor Justin Timberlake. I was very interested to watch him in a feature film as he has worked hard building up his acting portfolio with well chosen roles and films. He has recently been the lead in the film Friends with Benefits which I have not seen yet but this film took my fancy as it seemed to be a novel concept and an action-thriller which is my kind of film!
The film is based around the idea that people are genetically engineered to live up until the age of 25. After that point they live on a year by year basis and use their time as currency. This being the case, bills and payments mean they lose their valuable time just trying to live. Once your time is up however, if you cannot keep your clock ticking, you time out.
This then highlights the fact that the rich can live on forever as they have the availability of money to keep on buying their time, while the poor are living in the ghetto struggling for survival. They end up living by the day or hour fighting for their time. This results in having time-keepers to keep track of those living in the ghetto and those called 'minute men' who steal people's time. Naturally in hard times, there will be thieves and enforcers and the film focuses on the idea that people will do anything to keep on living forever; keeping the balance between the rich and poor.
The film begins with Will (Timberlake) being given time as a gift from a man who has enough funds to be able to be immortal but he is mentally unable to cope with living beyond his 105 years. This gift brings inevitable trouble for Will as he is hunted for this time by those who want to keep the balance and those who want to steal his Centuries.
I was pleasantly surprised by Timberlake's performance throughout the film. He had a very good screen presence and was believable as a tough-guy. Amanda Seyfield has always been a favourite actress of mine as she has such beauty and poise. She was perfect for the role as the frivolous rich girl who wanted some thrills in her never ending time battle.
Sylvia (Seyfield) is kidnapped by Will to help him stay alive while he is investigated for the death of the man who gave him his precious time. She is from the wealthiest family and romance inevitably blossoms between these two while on the run. She becomes engulfed in this battle to help those less fortunate to have their much needed time. She plays the bad-ass character very well and is quite believable as this reckless fugitive.
People in the ghetto were also able to give each other time to help each other out, or in other cases, fight each other for their time. This applied to the rich but was not as openly used other than for gambling or gifts. This is an interesting and not very well explained concept. The idea that you can transfer your time is a necessary element to the film as this is how they survive but the whole idea of how this idea came about is not explained in the film other than the illusive 'genetically engineered' tag.
I do however, love the question that this films brings to the forefront of the viewers mind throughout. Would you live forever? This question is riddled with possibilities but it does highlight the fact that we are born to die. Our bodies are designed to grow old, along with our minds. This films stresses the idea that we could be designed to stay young and have our minds grow old and how this would take it's toll on us. I love how this film brings so many questions of our existence to light.
My view: A very interesting concept and some very well acted scenes. The scene with Will running towards his mother just as she times out is one of my favourites and highlights Timberlake's acting abilities very well. This film has some missing explanations but is well thought out nonetheless.
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Check out the trailer:
