In Time is written, produced and directed by Andrew Niccol. Niccol also bought us Gattaca and one of those rare films in which Nic Cage has a reasonably good performance - Lord of War. Six years have passed since his last film, I wonder how he spent his time.
Some time in the maybe near future, that ol' cliche about time being money becomes a reality. The more time you've got, the more stuff you can buy, the longer you live. Some bright spark chose to program human beings to stop aging at twenty-five. When you hit twenty-five, a clock starts counting down on your arm, you can top that up by working for it or by taking time from other people.
You know what, time is of the essence so instead of spending the time to write a review about this film, I should just get you to watch Gattaca again because this film is very, very much the same. A brief explanation...
In both films we have a dude who is a victim of circumstance, wants to be something better than he is, gets help from a rich stranger, runs a lot, meets a girl who is his better, gets found out, chased by police, and is frequently asked questions about his father (though in this film, those questions do not get answered), you get the gist.
In Time even looks the same as Gattaca, the muted hues, the cars look the same, nice hair-dos on the ladies. It's a thinly-veiled (or even non-veiled) comment on society, the ever-increasing divide between the rich and the poor yadda yadda yadda which is ironic given the amount of money that Justin Timberlake has accumulated over his career.
It's a great concept but something just wasn't right in the execution.
Things I learnt: there are way too many cliches about time; people in the future jump funny; sell your stocks in botox companies now.
It could have been more.
Three out of ten.
Interesting and accurate review, I watched this yesterday and while I didn't spot the Gattaca-ness of the plot it did feel very familiar, predictable and pretty meh. The constant time references did become yawnsome (see also Spy Kids 4 - but don't really cos its rubbish).
ReplyDeleteMaybe when they remake it in 5 years time they'll get it right.
ReplyDeleteI will stay away from Spy Kids 4!