Great premise, failed to deliver...

Rating: 3/10 (24 December 2011)

From the first time I saw the trailer I was intrigued. Seemed like a new twist on things; GREAT premise. That was until I saw Justin Timberlake as the lead actor. Immediate doubt. The end result was the letdown I expected; maybe a bit more. Timberlake is tolerable in this, just not the best choice in my opinion. Quite frankly, the makers of this movie somehow failed to capitalize on a wonderful opportunity.
As an example, I felt it was a much more harrowing experience witnessing the powers that be ridding society of emotion in the movie 'Equilibrium' than the dilemma of having enough time in 'In Time'. I felt nothing for anyone in this film. They just skimmed over the very real and supposedly horrible fact that everyday people were dying simply because they didn't have the means (wealth) to afford more of it...so much so that I couldn't feel anything for anyone. Even the scene with the mother and the bus, which was supposed to be a heart-wrenching scene, had little effect.
I'm more amazed at the failure to really nail this concept home than anything else. The makers really had a chance to do something special. In the end, 'In Time' was just another sci-fi flick that implied its desire to separate itself from the pack, but in the end made no effort to do so. Could've been so much more....
3/10 - for the concept alone