In Time

The casting call for In Time didn’t include any senior citizens, or even middle-aged talent for that matter. Only those who could play 25-year-olds were considered.

That’s not being discriminatory, of course. It’s integral to the plot of this science-fiction thriller from writer-director Andrew Niccol (Lord of War) that seems to have its characters always moving in a film that goes nowhere.

The story is set in the near future, when humans do not physically age past 25 and afterward will live until a digitally embedded countdown clock on their wrist reaches all zeroes. It’s a world in which time literally is money, transferred between people and used almost like a debit card to pay for products and services. It’s a world where the rich can live forever and the poor are forced to steal just to stay alive.

Enter Will (Justin Timberlake), who decides to avenge the death of his mother by rebelling against the system. After a cop (Cillian Murphy), known as a “timekeeper,” begins chasing Will for a crime he didn’t commit, he decides to kidnap the daughter (Amanda Seyfried) of one of the world’s wealthiest men (Vincent Kartheiser) and hold her for ransom to buy more time.

The concept is certainly more intriguing than the execution, with Niccol simply leaving too many unanswered questions about this alternate reality he has created. Why doesn’t anyone have cell phones? What about diseases and illness? When and where does it take place? And exactly what is the science behind this transfer of “time?”

The bottom line is that in order for the audience to become emotionally invested in these characters and their Robin Hood-style thievery, then the world in which they exist needs to be convincing, and that’s simply not the case. Perhaps it’s not meant to be scrutinized so carefully, but the character motivations are cloudy and it seems as though every high-stakes action sequence ends with Will running desperately short on “time” only to get a refill at the last possible moment.

What could have been a provocative examination of the pitfalls of capitalism and an incisive look at socioeconomic trends instead is filled with tired chase sequences and a romance between two leads with little chemistry. It makes the whole premise for In Time feel like little more than a cheap gimmick.

Rated PG-13, 110 minutes.