Monday, December 19, 2011

In Time


I have to say that this move is well done across the board. Out of 5, I would give the film 3.5 stars. Here’s why:

This is another film that reaches across several types of audiences. It’s a film for the  sci-fi fanatic, the action junky, but also a film for those that want to be stimulated mentally. It’s a thinker’s film.

The movie is set years and years in the future and the currency is no longer in paper or plastic form, through exchanges of visa or dollar bills, but monetary exchange, is through time. In the future, the wealthier you are, the more time you have, and the longer you live. Isn't this how real life works anyway? In the United States, the more money you have, the better health insurance you have. Even if you have the same illness as that of someone with less money than you, the likelihood of you surviving, or living longer, is higher because you can most likely afford the expensive treatments and medications.This concept is intriguing, and this is where I will get into the mental stimulation the film inspires.

In the film, there is a physical division amongst communities where the poverty-stricken vs. the wealthy live, just as such divisions exist in modern culture today. There is a clear divide in towns and cities in socio-economic status, and this divide is illustrated with suburbs and high-rise apartment complexes being the places where the middle to upper-middle classes live, and ghettos and “projects” being the places members of the lowest socio-economic classes reside. In In Time, this concept is no different. This divide in the film is the exact same.  You also see the illustration of the phrase, “the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer.” Everyday you see the people in the ghettos in which Timberlake’s character, Will Salas, resides struggle everyday to make ends meet. Most of them only live day-to-day. This concept is also familiar. Most Americans in actuality only live on a day-to-day basis. Many people are only one pay check away from living completely on the street. This sounds extreme, but it is often very true. This movie does such a great job of bringing all of these ideas and realities to life.  Will’s mother dies in his arms after paying their bills for the month because  she has literally run out of “time.” These are major issues in American culture and history right now. With the United States economy the lowest generations have seen, this movie hits on major relevant events.

Another interesting aspect about the film is that no one ages after 25 years old. Once you hit 25, you physically stop aging. This is also the age when you have to start fighting, in a sense, to stay alive.  Your time has run out and every additional minute you are alive is a minute that you worked, stole, or bargained for. This concept in the film can be paralled with what happens when we turn 18 years old. At 18, our parents are no longer responsible for us financially or otherwise. Or, in my case, and in the case of many of my peers, 22 is that daunting age. You’ve just graduated from college, financial aid is done, living with your parents is out of the question, and finding and supporting yourself with a job that you hopefully enjoy to some degree seems like a near impossible task. Will I be able to do it? Am I going to be able to support myself? These are the questions we ask ourselves before the inevitable graduation day.

Aside from all of the real life parallels and great intellectual aspects of the film, it’s a lot of fun! Timberlake and Amanda Seyfriend, (who plays, the stereotypical rich girl who loathes her overly privileged life and decides to escape with poor bad boy) are sexy and they are a modern day Bonnie and Clyde. Timberlake is as smooth and suave as he was 5 years ago with the release of his world-wide hit “Sexy Back.” Seyfried is good. She keeps up with Timberlake’s energy and stamina well. There is a lot of action in the film--sexy cars, racing and chase scenes in those sexy cars,  explosions, robberies, and well-dressed and incredibly attractive men and women are all over, pushing the no one ages over 25 thematic. It’s exciting! It keeps you on the edge of your seat. The script also has its witty points, and it is overall, a worthwhile film.

The movie is good, but I wouldn’t say it is great. If you watch it, and pay attention to the themes and characters, it’s a good movie that you can get a lot out of. The only reason I cannot give it a higher rating, is because we have seen movies like this before. We’ve seen Bonnie and Clyde, we’ve seen Thelma and Louise, and we’ve also been seeing an increasing amount of future-set films in recent years, and I don't think In Time does any of these themes exceptionally. It does them well, but not exceptionally well. All films "bite" off of each other. Such types of films are successful because we as audience members like to see them. Nonetheless, the movie is good. It is definitely worth a see. The thematic, real-life paralleling elements alone make it a worthy watch.

1 comment:

  1. Totally agree! I wanted this movie to be AMAZING but it left something to be desired. I was disappointed that the ending was very Bonnie and Clyde / Robin Hood-esque. The physical actions they were performing at the conclusion were futuristic but the concept was not. If they had some sort of new/refreshing way to achieve the same goal then the movie would have greatly benefitted

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