*** Warning ‘ere be spoilers ***
This dystopian Sci-Fi thriller could so easily have been a brilliant film. Director Andrew Niccol has solid form with Gattaca, Simone and Lord of War all faring fairly well at the box office. Amanda Seyfried is one of the best up and coming actresses in Hollywood, Cillian Murphy is one of the best actors of his generation and even Justin Timberlake is proving he has the charisma to justify star billing in summer blockbusters. More importantly than all of these factors though is the story. It’s a genuinely intriguing concept at work here. Set in 2161, time has now replaced money as currency and though people now stop ageing at 25, they are required to earn extra time from this point onwards in order to survive. If your personal clock counts down to zero, then you die. It’s a shame therefore that the end product, whilst not by any means terrible, just falls a little flat.
Timberlake’s Will Salas is lowly factory worker who lives in the impoverished ghetto of Dayton. Here, the poor of society are crammed in together in a designated ‘time zone’ where they live day to day, earning the odd extra hour here or there, but constantly living under the threat of expiration. One night Will saves the life of a wealthy man, Henry Hamilton, who has a century on his clock and has inadvisably been flaunting it around Dayton. The rich live separately in a different time zone called New Greenwich. They live life at a slow pace in the lap of luxury, secure in the knowledge that they can live forever thanks to their wealth. Henry however has grown weary of living so long, he is now 105 and is mentally ready to expire. After Will has saved his life, Henry reveals to him that nobody actually needs to die before their time as there are plenty of years to go round. However the rich folks stockpile precious hours, days and weeks in order to allow themselves to live forever, as Henry ruefully notes, “for a few to be immortal, many must die”.
Henry transfers his years to Will as he sleeps, leaving himself just enough time to wander out into Dayton and perch on the edge of a bridge waiting to expire. Will wakes up and rushes out to try and save him but is too late.
The resident police force, known as the Timekeepers, whose job it is to ensure nobody has more than their fair share of years, take note of this large transfer of time and arrive at the bridge to find Henry’s body. Unfortunately for Will, a nearby security camera has caught his failed attempts to save Henry on film and so he becomes a prime suspect. After a tragic event involving his mother, and inspired by Henry’s words, Will decides to seek revenge on the rich and heads into New Greenwich armed with a century of time to play with. He uses his new found wealth to enter a fancy casino, where he successfully wins even more years from billionaire time-loaning businessman Philippe Weis. Weis’s daughter Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried) takes an interest in Will and invites him to her father’s party later that night. It is at this party though where the Timekeepers, led by Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy), catch up with Will and take back the century he unduly required. They leave him with only two hours of life and in desperation; Will takes Sylvia hostage and flees back to Dayton.
The remainder of the film is part a fight for survival as various clocks tick down and part blossoming romance as Sylvia becomes besotted with her captor. Will opens her eyes to the inequality of the system and eventually the two become Bonnie and Clyde meets Robin Hood style bank robbers, stealing time from the rich and distributing it back to the poor. Leon is permanently on their tail however and as Timekeepers close in, their fight for equality becomes ever more dangerous.
It’s a neat premise and one that on paper works really well. Yet somehow the finished article is just a little flat and underdeveloped. The theoretical science behind the films is only really vaguely touched upon and the plot does in general feel a little rushed. Niccol’s story is complex and you sense that he almost tried to cram too much in and as a result plot points get skirted over and there’s just not enough time to really develop characters or create a truly immersive future world.
The Timekeepers are a prime example of where In Time struggles to match up to its own good intentions. Cillian Murphy does wonders with what little time he is given but his character is never really fleshed out. We learn too late on that he was once a resident in Dayton and you’d think maybe here we’d get an interesting subplot about how he became a New Greenwich resident and turned to the dark side as he did. No time for that though, JT needs to run somewhere again. Leon and his fellow Timekeepers could be a really menacing and feared piece of state machinery, but instead they come across as fairly inept coppers who swan about dressed in black consistently 5 minutes behind the culprits (being from New Greenwich, the majority of them won’t rush you see).
Likewise the backstory of Will’s father and his rebellious antics are never really expanded upon. It’s alluded to a few times and then forgotten about and not mentioned again for the rest of the film. I’m not sure how relevant it really was but it would have been nice to have that little plot strand tied up.
The socio-political subtext itself also gets a little left behind. The film seemingly wants to be a stinging critique of inequality in society and emphasise the plight of the downtrodden poor, yet this aspect of the film gets jettisoned midway through as it instead focuses on the Bonnie and Clyde crime caper aspect. This transition doesn’t really work and by the end of the movie you’re not really sure what message the director was seeking to convey. I assume he was seeking at greater profundity than: the rich have an easier life than the poor, but I’m struggling to decipher exactly what it is.
Despite all this, it must be emphasised that In Time is a perfectly watchable movie that zips by in no time at all (excuse the pun). The leads are all on good, if not great, form and there are some stylistic touches that work really well. The ticking clock that every person has etcherd onto their arm is a neat idea, and the ‘time zone’ concept works as an aid to demonstrate the division between rich and poor. As a piece of entertaining popcorn cinema In Time does its job and holds the attention for its entire runtime.
If anything my attitude towards the film is merely that of a disapproving parent. I’m not angry as such, just disappointed. The ingredients where there, but the end product just didn’t quite do it justice.
In Time is out on DVD & blu-ray 27th February 2012.
Director: Andrew Niccol
Writer: Andrew Niccol
Stars: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy
Runtime: 109 min
Country: USA
Film Rating: 
