Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: In Time

This is topic In Time in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 11-12-2011, 06:43 AM:

In Time is a competent action/thriller in the Hollywood mould but coming from director, Andrew Niccol, who also wrote and directed Gattaca and wrote The Truman Show, it is disappointingly lite. While Gattaca established its fascinating sci-fi premise and then proceeded to examine its social implications, In Time lays out its entire thesis during its opening narration and then restricts its action to within these bounds. Beyond the first 5 minutes we learn nothing new about this world which briskly heads for Bonnie and Clyde territory after its Logan's Run type set up.

Outside of the director's prior work, however, the film is enjoyable enough. It's nicely paced at a fine enough clip and there's action and pretty faces aplenty to maintain the audiences interest. Although the time/currency puns are a little overdone, the entertainment quotient is consistently high.

Justin Timberlake has been busy of late, starring in The Social Network, Bad Teacher, Friends with Benefits and now In Time. A couple of these are even respectable films and he delivers respectable performances in them. While he's, by no stretch, a great actor, he's certainly showing himself to be a worthy screen presence. And he's a suitably pretty face to match that of his co-star, Amanda Seyfried. However, in a cast of characters who are not supposed age past 25 years, Cillian Murphy is clearly too old for his role, even he is effective in it.

So it has good performances from attractive stars in a briskly paced action flick; there's not really too much to dislike other than what could have been from such a respectable director.

7.5 out of 10

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-12-2011, 02:43 PM:

This movie had really great potential and I was actually quite excited to see it. But it slowly morphed into a not-so-subtle left wing rant about how corporations are bad and people are being kept under the thumb of the few who are in power and blahdy blahdy bladhy. This story could have taken so many interesting directions, but nope. More propaganda crap from the Hollywood machine. Definitely a good idea gone bad. 1 out of 10. 1 for a good idea, but that was it.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 11-12-2011, 05:05 PM:

I didn't mind the leftiness of the script despite the fact that I too abhor left wing propaganda. But this is a fantasy so it's easy to run with it and as an allegory for the real world, it is more or less correct.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 11-12-2011, 05:21 PM:

Mark is either a millionaire, or else he's become comfortably numb.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-12-2011, 08:35 PM:

Not a millionaire. (Not yet, anyway.)

Not numb either.