If only...

Rating: 5/10 (18 February 2013)

Occasionally, a film comes along - you watch it - and the main reason you are disappointed is because it simply could have been so much better.
This is such a movie.
The central premise at the heart this movie is an interesting one - once you hit 25 years old, you have to earn your 'time' - otherwise, you'll be dead in a year. And just as money is key in our society - time is currency in this one. And just like money, it can be earnt, stolen, bought or given easily.
So why would you want to live forever? Because you will always look, and feel, 25. And who doesn't want that? (Unless your mid-20s were pretty crappy)
Pretty good concept, right? Enough material in there for plenty of social comment, right? Don't worry – that does come along later
But the first question your mind is probably spluttering at this point is - 'wellhow did this HAPPEN?'
And therein lies the first, and biggest, problem.
That is never explained.
Ever.
And the movie is quite brazen about the fact – Justin Timberlake's voice over says so –" I don't have time. I don't have time to worry about how it happened. It is what it is."
I thought – 'Oh Justin – we're BOUND to find this out later, surely?!'
'No Andrew, you're not', said Justin, improvising brilliantly from the script.
'Okay', I thought – 'No matter – I'm in. I learnt not to question too much with LOOPER. Let's see how this goes'.
And the first half does – at quite a pace, but not so quick that you don't understand what is at stake here. You have a certain amount of time – if you run out – you fall down dead. High stakes indeed. So – two things happen to Justin that makes him angry enough to tackle 'the man'. 'The man' is actually an entire community – barricading themselves in the centre of the city – New Greenwich – with a constant reference to how 'expensive' everything is. 3 days for a cup of coffee? It's not even Starbucks All of this is quite entertaining, and Timberlake – now back on script – manages to be charming, but also willing to take a risk with his own life – it seems – at the flick of a card. (I know that's not the phrase – but when you see the movie, it will make sense.) Then Justin meets Sylvia – played by Amanda Seyfried. The second half then chooses to almost ignore what makes this film interesting – and instead encourages you to care what happens to Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried as they go on a Bonnie & Clyde/Robin Hood adventure purely because they are NICE PEOPLE. And you'll sit and enjoy it because – hey – everyone loves NICE people, right?
Ultimately, this is not a bad movie. But it could have been great.