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What did I think about “In Time?” The only quick answer I can offer is “it was terrible.” I went into the theater expecting it to be a nice thriller about toppling a corrupt system where time is used instead of money. I was looking forward to finding out how they managed to make people stop aging at 25, and how they were able to give or take away years from people. I was looking forward to seeing Cillian Murphy in one of his bigger roles since “Batman Begins” and “Sunshine.” I was most looking forward to being entertained by Justin Timberlake, who showed some acting potential in “Alpha Dog,” but has never been able to, in my opinion, fully unlock his potential.
Unfortunately I was disappointed on all accounts. All I got was a generic action movie, and none of the answers I wanted. The movie starts with a voiceover from Timberlake’s character stating that humans are genetically altered, but he doesn’t have time to explain the science. Basically, suspend your disbelief that the government can control how much time people have in their lives. I’m all for suspending disbelief, but only so much. This is why I hated “Source Code” so much. They expect us to just go along with what they are saying, and are too lazy to throw us even a piece of a bone? That would be like having a movie start with a huge dinosaur destroying a city, and have someone just say “science caused this.” The HOW is what I need to know to enjoy the film. Five minutes of exposition and I’m set.
It felt like Cillian Murphy phoned in his performance, which I was disappointed to see after he dominated “28 Days Later” and “Sunshine.” Timberlake did decently enough with his character, but I never once felt like he truly embodied the role. Alex Pettyfer (“I Am Number Four”) and Olivia Wilde (“The Change-Up”) are the two performances that I liked the most in this film. Alex and Olivia, though in minor roles, owned every second of the time they were given. Olivia plays Timberlake’s mother, which was trippy to see because in real life Timberlake is two years her senior. Pettyfer played a street thug that muscles people, and you’re led to believe that he works for the government to make sure no one has too much time. Amanda Seyfried was also in this film, but she didn’t bring anything special to the role and her character was poorly written so anyone could have played her character.
The film was a mix of “Robin Hood” and “Bonnie and Clyde,” but doesn’t come anywhere close to delivering the quality those films do. The same crap happens in this movie that you have seen in dozens of movies before, and the whole time I asked myself “why should I care?” They try to tie in some emotional back-story about Timberlake’s father, but never flesh it out. They want you to feel sorry for this girl who has had life handed to her on a silver platter, but there is no way you get sympathy for that. They want you to feel bad for the time cop (Murphy’s character) who is chasing them through this whole movie as he is living minute to minute, but still make him unlikable. The whole time all this is going on the same plot points you have seen in other movies happen again and again. With the exception of one extreme arm wrestling match (the ending of which is obvious) between Timberlake and Pettyfer’s characters I was never once enthralled.
It was hard for me to watch this film and find anything good to say about it. This film makes me wonder if Hollywood is on its last leg of originality. Is it better than a lot of other stuff out there? Maybe, but anything seems great when compared to the gems this year. Leaving the screening I overheard a lot of people say, “It was OK.” Basically they don’t want to feel like they just wasted their time so it was just OK. This is two hours (with trailers) that you could spend doing something better. I feel the same way about this movie as I did about “Columbiana.” It was a good concept, but poorly executed. If I could get a second chance I would let the “time” (har har) run out on its theatrical run and pick it up for a dollar on Red Box (or Netflix if you’re not one of the 800,000 that cancelled).
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chico13dolphin
said:
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... I actually liked the concept of the movie, but a few more special effects and a better story line would have helped. |
Andrea Weinberger
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... I disagree with all of you that were disappointed by this film. I think it is the best movie I have seen for some time. I liked the fact that it is a futuristic film that could possibly happen and one must value every second of one's life and make the most of their time. What I didn't like was how easy it was to take someone else's time away. Not a Justin Timberlake fan but thought he played his part well (spoiler alert) and I was also upset that his mom gave him extra time for lunch and that time would have saved her life. I think this film is worth seeing sooner than later. |
MattandUpohar
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... I guess this will have to be a rental. The concept seemed to have great potential... |
yelita
said:
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... I agree with you somewhat, as I had the same questions you had that were left unanswered; however, I thought the movie was still entertaining. |
spmallee
said:
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... Wow, Thanks for the review! I almost went to see this movie tonight since the plot and cast made it look very appealing. However, I will wait for it on DVD so that I am not disappointed and waste money. |
just a florida girl
said:
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... Thanks for the review...guess I will wait for DVD if I want to see it. dorothy |
flashkill
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... That is quite disappointing. I was excited to see this as it was original and the trailers made it seem interesting. I had some of the same questions that you had as well. I was going to take my uncle to see this, but if it is a disappointing as you say then I cannot as I'd never hear the end of it from him. Thanks for your review I think we will wait for the DVD, hopefully it will be a quick release to DVD and not one they wait forever to release. |
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