In October of 2011 I wrote about a movie that was about to hit theaters called "In Time," staring Justin Timberlake. Here's what I said then based solely on seeing the TV commercials/trailers:"I absolutely LOVE the premise of this movie. Time as currency? Buying a cup of coffee cost 4 minutes of your life? There are endless possibilities and cool things that could be done with this concept. And that is exactly what's going to ruin it. 48 seconds into the trailer this flick already has way too much on it's plate. Instead of being a movie, I wish "In Time" was a new series debuting on HBO or AMC. Then it could delve into all kinds of potential plot lines and character development without having to wrap everything up in 2 hours or less. As it is, I'm guessing the filmmakers ran out of time themselves, and the movie falls way short of it's potential."
Well it's been sitting in my DVR for about a year now, and last night I finally got around to watching it. My preemptive review was almost dead on. The concept is awesome, and it definitely should have been a TV series (maybe it still will be? A great idea like this should not go to waste when spectacularly uncreative shows like the recycled Bad News Bears/Mighty Ducks "Back in the Game" are getting made).
The first 20 minutes of the movie alone could have been several weeks worth of television. Explaining how things work, funny lines like a prostitute saying "I'll give you ten minutes for one hour," and the characters referring to inheriting wealth as being "from time" instead of "from money;" that's a few episodes right there. Then some guy gives Timberlake a hundred years of his life for no reason, there's another episode. Immediately afterwards Justin's mom dies because she only has an hour and a half on her clock, but her bus ride home from work costs 2 hours (I don't get how a cup of coffee can cost 4 minutes while a commuter bus ride is 2 hours, but whatever...), and we're still right near the beginning of the film.
From then on it turns into a future version of Robin Hood, Timberlake steals time from the rich and gives it to the poor. And while the movie clearly doesn't fulfil it's potential, it's still very entertaining and doesn't suck as much at the end as I thought it might.
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