Tuesday 24 January 2012

In Time

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Year:2011
Country of origin:USA
Director:Andrew Niccol
Genre:Cerebral sci-fi
Starring:Shyloh Oostwald
Rating:4/5
IMDB link:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637688/
Tagline:Time Is Power
Favourite line:"For a few immortals to live, many people must die."

Here's how it works:
Twice a year, for a few months, Hollywood churns out a bunch of old guff. Big budget, high concept, massive special effects movies that are as soulless as a fluffer three years into the job. It happens over summer, from May to mid-August, then again over the Christmas / holiday period, so December to February.
These movies are usually offensively poor, whose single intention is to squeeze money from people too stupid to know any better.
Then, happily, they go away for a bit and, in their place, come interesting, modest little curios such as this, from the mind of writer, producer, director, coffee maker Andrew Niccol, the man previously behind the equally good Truman Show and Gattaca.

The plot:
It's the future, perhaps, and people live for 25 blissful years free of worry. Then, the second they turn 25, their clock switches on, and they only have a year left to live. To earn more time, they must work, steal, beg and, to buy goods or services, their precious time must be spent.
See, if you haven't figured it out already, time is the currency.
The amount of time an individual has left is displayed digitally on their forearm, for all to see, acting as a constant reminder of their own mortality.
One man, Will Salas (Lustin' Jimbertake), decides he has had enough of the current system, his rebellion prompted by witnessing the death of his own mother, the delectable Olivia 'Thirteen' Wilde.
His actions trigger a response from the authorities, with Time Keepers sent in to put a stop to his meddling.
But, as we all know, time stops (sic) for no man......

It's a great premise, Niccol once more delivering a bleak, semi-real sci-fi environ that would make Blake 7 proud.
It has to be said, Niccol is always one to watch as, though he delivers few movies, they do tend to be interesting, the only real blot on his copybook being the ultra-bland Al Pacino vehicle S1mone.
Here, those looking for laser battles and gibbering alien nasties will be sorely disappointed, but if something a little more cerebral gets your sexy juices flowing, this could be worth a goosey.

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