In Time

Gattaca director Andrew Niccol returns to the sci-fi genre with In Time, a fast-paced thriller set in a near-future where, to avoid overpopulation, people only age until 25, after which time they are given another year to live and the only way to stay alive is to earn, steal, or inherit more time. Time becomes the currency by which people live, literally trading in hours of their lives for luxuries and necessities. It's a society split into time zones instead of countries, where the rich can live forever and the poor die young.

One young man, Will Salas (Timberlake) stumbles into over a century of time when he rescues one rich man, Henry Hamilton (Bomer) from a gang of time thieves. Henry you see has become jaded with immortality after living over a hundred years and knows just what damage is happening to society. Seeing something in Will he transfers his remaining century to him and dies. Now on the run, Will kidnaps the daughter of a time-wealthy banker Philippe Weis (Kartheiser). However when Weis cherishes time over his daughters life and refuses to pay a ransom for her, she and Will hatch a plan to steal all the time in Weis' banks and distribute it to those running out of time...

Much was made of In Time prior to it's release - mainly due to the fact it sees writer/director Andrew Niccol return to the genre he made waves in with Gattaca. Well I have a confession to make. I hated Gattaca. I loathed S1m0ne, Niccol's other foray into sci-fi. But, and here's the kicker, whilst many have decreed In Time as not up to Niccol's exacting standards, I absolutely loved it!

What In Time gets right is that, unlike Niccol's other work the film can actually be enjoyed as a mere popcorn action flick. But dig a little deeper and you'll realise Niccol has actually created a (pardon the pun) very timely look at society, in particular rich vs. poor - which given the current economic climate and the increasing popular rage against the inequality between the classes couldn't be more apt.

TImberlake makes for an compelling hero, bringing a likeability to his futuristic Robin Hood-esque character more so than Ethan Hawke ever did in NIccol's Gattaca. He also has a great chemistry with Amanda Seyfried who at first seems a touch wooden until you actually realise its Seyfried's version of naivety... However once she too gets into the swing of things she gives a more open, and believeable performance as the bankers duaghter turned vigilante turned brains behind the operation! But both leads are put to shame by two of the films supporting cast - namely Vincent Kartheiser as Phillipe Weis who manages to imbue his young visage with a real sense of age, and with that age a sense of self-importance (not wisdom as you would think would be the case); and Matt Bomer, who's slightly-more-than-a-cameo role as Henry Hamilton feels like the truest in the entire film. Bomer manages to convey a real sense of world-weariness despite his young outward appearance, and you really feel his pain at living so long - and Bomer manages all that in the short amount of time he's on screen!

Somewhat of a revolutionary call to arms, In Time is an excellent metaphor for our time and Niccol should be praised for not only having his finger on the cultural zeitgeist, but for creating a fantastic multi-faceted sci-fi adventure. In Time is in UK cinemas from today.