Review - Movie Catch-up - In Time

In Time * * * *
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Matt Bomer

There's been a lot of controversy surrounding this movie over the last few months, and a lot of critics and reviews didn't particularly care for the movie.  I went into the theater already expecting to like In Time, but the movie was actually better and more enjoyable than I expected.

I'm sure most of you know the basic plot of the movie by now - Sometime in the future, each person ages normally until the exact moment they turn 25, and at that moment the the body's aging genes turn off and the clock embedded in their arm begins to count down, giving them exactly one year to live.

But time isn't just time - it also doubles as currency.  A cup of coffee costs four minutes, a bus ride 2 hours.  People work to earn more time to extend their lives and pay for food and lodging, most barely getting by from day to day, while not too far away the elite enjoy the benefits of hundreds of years of extra time - time to live, and time to spend on the luxuries of life.

Through a series of odd events one young man is given 100 years, and he uses that through gambling to earn even more, in the process getting noticed by the Timekeepers, who police the flow of time through the economy, and learns the secret to how the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

Overall it's a great movie, full of both funny and sad moments.  Someone spent a lot of time thinking about how the time-as-currency dynamic would affect society in general, and it showed in the fashion of both the rich and poor sectors, and even the way people moved through their day.  The people in the poor sectors run everywhere they go, eating and moving and living as fast as they can, to cram as much into the time they have left.  The ultra-rich on the other hand, eat and move slowly, never run, and never engage in any activity that might cause harm to themselves.

There's also plenty of action in the movie, and while some of the scenes were loads of fun, there were plenty of horrifying moments as well.  The pacing of the film felt a little slow in some places, and there were a few plot holes, but I really didn't mind.  I give In Time four stars in spite of the problems, because there were also many things that it did really well.

Have you seen In Time yet?  What did you think?  Share your thoughts below - I'd love to hear them!