In Time (2011)

Directed by: Andrew Niccol
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Cillian Murphy, Amanda Seyfried

They say that time is money. In this sci-fi thriller, time is your lifeblood. Time is used as currency in this futuristic world to pay for everything from a cup of coffee to a house.  Humans have a flourescent digital clock on their arm that counts the years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds of their lives. Time can be uploaded or downloaded from each others clock by touching arms or a "time piece."  The more time you have, the richer you are...and the longer you will live. People are programmed to stop aging at age 25, but engineered to live only one year after that. If one has the means, they can buy or steal time to add years to their clock...and their lives. Will Salas (Timberlake) comes from the ghettos of this fictional world.  He is falsely accused of murdering a man who gave him a century of time as a gift. The plot then introduces Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), daughter of the richest man alive, Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser.) Philippe is essentially immortal as he has an untold amount of time on his clock. He is like the Warren Buffet of this world, and owns most of the time on the planet. Will uses Sylvia at first for ransom to get himself out of the situation he is in, but the plot takes another twist from there. The pair basically become like two Robin Hoods stealing time (which her father owns) and doling it out to the poor, as they are pursued by the "Timekeeper" (Murphy.)

Even though the story takes place in the future, the sets take on a more modern-day look. The cars used in this movie look more like customized muscle cars than something futuristic. The location is obviously Los Angles as there are quite a few scenes that take place on the L.A. River. The narrative of the story flows well, but is rather dull. Timberlake continues to succeed as a real actor with on screen charisma. After solid performances in Alpha Dog (2006) and The Social Network (2010), it's a little disappointing to see him in a role that doesn't bring out the best of his abilities.