"In Time" 2011 Directed: Andrew Niccol Starring: Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried
I had been looking forward to this film written and directed by Andrew Niccol, who also wrote and directed "The Truman Show" and "Lord of War." As shown by Niccol's past work you can see that he has the ability to make stellar films but also films that had potential but were simply lacking. Unfortunately, "In Time" falls into the later category. The film, specifically the story, had so much potential but when you put it all together there was just something missing. The acting surpassed my expectations, the story was enticing and well written, and the visuals were well thought out. The story is not overly predictable but characters are stereotypical to the point that every action they take has been taken a million times by that same character in every other movie. The film wasn't bad but there were just too many little things wrong to make the film good. My biggest problem is that the story claims to be set in the "near future" but it seems the only technological advance is the time as currency that story is based on. The cars look like old Detroit muscle cars but whine like electric cars and the doors open like 70's Star Trek doors that simply annoy.
Overall: B- The film has a lot of potential and a very intriguing story but has too many little problems to make it good. It is worth a rental or a streaming on Netflix. It just isn't quite worth the $10 for a theater ticket.
