Released on Oct. 28, 2011, “In Time” stars Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde and Vincent Kartheiser. The movie’s about an hour and 40 minutes long and raked in over $172 million in box office revenues.
Like Philip K. Dick meets “Logan’s Run” with a dash of “Robin Hood,” this move is set in 2161, a dystopian future in which humans are genetically engineered to stop aging at 25. Sounds good, right? Not in this world. Because when you turn 25, you have to start earning more time the same way people in our world earn more money. The length of your life is displayed on the underside of your left forearm and when that clock runs down, you die. Time can be transferred between people through arm-to-arm contact, and time has replaced currency.
I’ve never been a big fan of Justin Timberlake, but in this move he was awesome in the lead role of Will Salas, a 28-year-old factory worker. One night while out at the bar, he saves a rich guy, that is, a guy with a lot of time on his arm, from getting robbed and killed by a street gang. The guy he saves, Henry Hamilton, is over 100 years old and claims to be tired of living. While Salas sleeps, Hamilton transfers almost his whole life to Salas.
When Salas wakes up, he’s rich, and Hamilton’s dead. Salas’ newfound wealth allows him to move up in the world, that is, until the Time Keepers track him down on suspicion of robbing and killing Hamilton. The Time Keepers are sort of like cops charged with making sure that too much time doesn’t end up in the wrong hands. Salas eventually partners up with the daughter of a bank mogul, and the two begin robbing time banks. In hopes of disrupting the worldwide time system, they begin giving away time to the poor.
I enjoyed this movie, and the entire time I was watching it, I kept thinking that it had to have been either written by Philip K. Dick or based on one of his novels. It just had that “Blade Runner,” “A Scanner Darkly,” “Total Recall,” “Adjustment Bureau” feel to it. Much to my surprise, I learned afterwards that it was actually written by director Andrew Niccol, who also wrote “Gattaca” and “The Truman Show.”
I was also interested to learn that sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison filed a plagiarism suit a month before the movie’s release because he felt that it was based on his 1965 short story, “Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman.” Ellison dropped the suit once he actually watched “In Time” for himself.
In the end, how many of you have watched “In Time”? What did you think about it? Did you like it or dislike it? Why? Let us know in the comments section below.
For more information about “In Time,” visit its official Web site at www.intimecasino.com.
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