Justin Timberlake stars in 'In Time': movie review

The futuristic 'In Time' reels out a doomsday scenario that has Justin Timberlake playing a Robin Hood-like character who saves the lives of the poor.

“In Time,” starring Justin Timberlake, is about a futuristic world in which people stop aging at 25, which is when the clock they were born with on their wrists begins its countdown. In less than a year, if you don’t figure out a way to buy, trade, earn, or steal more time, it’s lights out. As a result, the masses are always in a rush, counting down the minutes allotted for even the most mundane tasks. The wealthy, who can afford to buy up thousands of years of time, luxuriate in their ease. It’s a have-and-have-not world that, I suppose, is meant to correlate with today’s massive inequalities.

The writer-director Andrew Niccol is best known for writing “The Truman Show,” another movie that got carried away by doomsday deep-think. The deep-think here is even sillier. Timberlake’s Will, from the run-down side of town, rises up against the monied oligarchy. Along for the ride is Amanda Seyfried’s Sylvia, a pouty rich kid who gets to rescue the poor while brandishing, none too convincingly, a very heavy-looking pistol.

The film is beautifully shot in chilly blues and grays by cinematographer Roger Deakins, and Los Angeles locales are well chosen for futuristic effect. Most of the time, however, I found myself glancing at the clock on my own wrist. Grade: C (Rated PG-13 for violence, some sexualty and partial nudity, and strong language.)