I’m a sucker for a good sci- fi / acoitn movie. I’m rather forgiving in just how much I will overlook in the name of quality entertainment.First, the Good: Some of the acting (Cillian Murphy, Justin Timberlake and a few others) are respectably solid. Also, the overall concept is very intriguing the world currency is time, and when a person turns 25 their life clock actually begins. From the time you are 25, life’s objective is to keep your life clock from expiring. If it expires, you die. Not a problem for the rich, who have more time than they know what to do with: a wealthy person may have centuries to live, while the poor continuously struggle for more time. It’s a very interesting premise that becomes more interesting when a poor worker (Justin Timberlake) saves a wealthy man from a time stealing mob boss while flaunting his wealth in the ghetto. in return, he gives Justine Timberlake all of his time (over 100 years). In a short but very philosophical discussion the wealthy man, who has mentally lived too long, says We are meant to die. So begins a science fiction tale that promises to serve up plenty of symbolism, philosophical overtones about economy and the meaning of existence. Could it possibly be the rare sci fi / acoitn film panned by critics but destined to become a cult classic somewhere down the road?Hell no.Unfortunately, that’s about as good as the film gets.Actually, the movie starts to go down hill and remains spiraling out of control with the entrance of Amanda Seyfried. Sadly, the story abandons all of its earlier adult-oriented promise to become a vapid love story seemingly aimed at pre-teens. Amanda Seyfried is a very pretty girl, but her acting abilities are horrific. I was not impressed with her in Red Riding Hood and even less impressed here. Not only can’t she act, but her acting is so horrible that my wife and I kept laughing at scenes that were meant to be serious. She serves well as eye candy, but the girl really needs to invest in some acting lessons. She’s laughably terrible.Just an example of her horrible acting: she plays a wealthy girl who is kidnapped by Justin Timberlake and taken to the ghetto. They are both rendered unconscious and robbed of nearly all their time. Now they have to stay on the move and struggle to stay alive without running out of time. Never once does she seem very concerned that she is mere minutes from certain death. She acts incredibly hum-drum for a rich girl who always had an over-abundance of time and now literally has almost none.The third act gets even worse when the two lovers turn into Robin Hood-esque characters, stealing from the wealthy and giving to the poor. The movie becomes so trite that anything once redeeming is no longer a part of the equation.Also, the ghetto’ was way too tame: in a world where time can be exchanged simply by grabbing someones arm, think how chaotic, dismal and brutal the ghetto would really be with people killing eachother just to survuve a few more minutes. While this is slightly implied, it is never shown. The movie becomes its own worst enemy by completely santizing what it’s attempting to condemn in the first place.All in all, this movie is so incredibly disappointing because it started with so much promise and then took all that promise and wasted it. Some the actors were solid- I’ve always been impressed with Cillian Murphy and I must admit that Timberlake easily holds his own as well. With a tighter script and direction, this could have been so much better than it actually was.
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I’m a sucker for a good sci- fi / acoitn movie. I’m rather forgiving in just how much I will overlook in the name of quality entertainment.First, the Good: Some of the acting (Cillian Murphy, Justin Timberlake and a few others) are respectably solid. Also, the overall concept is very intriguing the world currency is time, and when a person turns 25 their life clock actually begins. From the time you are 25, life’s objective is to keep your life clock from expiring. If it expires, you die. Not a problem for the rich, who have more time than they know what to do with: a wealthy person may have centuries to live, while the poor continuously struggle for more time. It’s a very interesting premise that becomes more interesting when a poor worker (Justin Timberlake) saves a wealthy man from a time stealing mob boss while flaunting his wealth in the ghetto. in return, he gives Justine Timberlake all of his time (over 100 years). In a short but very philosophical discussion the wealthy man, who has mentally lived too long, says We are meant to die. So begins a science fiction tale that promises to serve up plenty of symbolism, philosophical overtones about economy and the meaning of existence. Could it possibly be the rare sci fi / acoitn film panned by critics but destined to become a cult classic somewhere down the road?Hell no.Unfortunately, that’s about as good as the film gets.Actually, the movie starts to go down hill and remains spiraling out of control with the entrance of Amanda Seyfried. Sadly, the story abandons all of its earlier adult-oriented promise to become a vapid love story seemingly aimed at pre-teens. Amanda Seyfried is a very pretty girl, but her acting abilities are horrific. I was not impressed with her in Red Riding Hood and even less impressed here. Not only can’t she act, but her acting is so horrible that my wife and I kept laughing at scenes that were meant to be serious. She serves well as eye candy, but the girl really needs to invest in some acting lessons. She’s laughably terrible.Just an example of her horrible acting: she plays a wealthy girl who is kidnapped by Justin Timberlake and taken to the ghetto. They are both rendered unconscious and robbed of nearly all their time. Now they have to stay on the move and struggle to stay alive without running out of time. Never once does she seem very concerned that she is mere minutes from certain death. She acts incredibly hum-drum for a rich girl who always had an over-abundance of time and now literally has almost none.The third act gets even worse when the two lovers turn into Robin Hood-esque characters, stealing from the wealthy and giving to the poor. The movie becomes so trite that anything once redeeming is no longer a part of the equation.Also, the ghetto’ was way too tame: in a world where time can be exchanged simply by grabbing someones arm, think how chaotic, dismal and brutal the ghetto would really be with people killing eachother just to survuve a few more minutes. While this is slightly implied, it is never shown. The movie becomes its own worst enemy by completely santizing what it’s attempting to condemn in the first place.All in all, this movie is so incredibly disappointing because it started with so much promise and then took all that promise and wasted it. Some the actors were solid- I’ve always been impressed with Cillian Murphy and I must admit that Timberlake easily holds his own as well. With a tighter script and direction, this could have been so much better than it actually was.