Writing the story =/= good direction

Rating: 7/10 (2 October 2018)

I have been a fan of Andrew Niccol's writing since watching The Truman Show. I had watched Gattaca previously as a kid, but it was strangely made to the point where it didn't feel like a classic. The Truman Show is an absolute classic movie, amongst the top 250 here on IMDB. The difference? Niccol wrote both story/scripts, but only directed the more poorly executed film. It seems he is his own worst enemy: taking amazing ideas and scripts and directing them into mediocrity.
In Time is an example of a great concept turned mediocre movie. It definitely has a few high points, but they're marred by an overwhelming sense of "this scene could have been punched up a few notches" throughout the entire film. The same thing could be said about the delivery of lines by the actors. This sci-fi, dystopian future film lacked exactly what makes a film sci-fi and futuristic. All the locations are bland and are lacking in any real uniqueness. Many lines and characters feel completely out of place, due to the nature of the age (or LOOK of age) that the actors had to be. Taking the blandest of existing cars and giving them a "futuristic" sound doesn't constitute conveying a future setting. These are just many of the small things that add up to make the movie not hit it's mark.
The reason I gave this a 7 instead of a 5-6, is because there is one scene in particular that was perfectly executed, heavily emotional and brought me to tears. It made me think had the rest of the movie been constructed with such care, this could have been an amazing sci-fi movie.
7/10. Worth a watch at least once, but don't hold your breath for a mind-blowing movie.