Friday, August 1, 2014

In Time

One cannot watch In Time without wondering what the political message is?  On the surface it seems pretty obvious that it is a class warfare movie like Elysium or They Live.  However, the message could be interpreted in different ways.  The message could just be that a powerful minority oppresses a much larger majority, which has been true of oppressive governments everywhere.   I don't think that a democracy would allow the vast majority of people to live under a constant and almost daily death threat, which is not that different from living in say Auschwitz.  

Imagine a future where you could possibly live forever, but you have to earn time to survive.  Time is money.  Literally.  Money is the time you have left to live.  Unfortunately the majority of people are impoverished and must earn time almost daily to survive.  

Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) encounters a suicidal rich man who gives up all his time to Will, who is now suddenly wealthy, but on the run from the law who thinks that he murdered the rich man.  Olivia Wilde makes an interesting contribution as Will's mother who runs out of time about a second before Will can save her.  This motivates Will to rebel against the system.  He kidnaps another wealthy man's daughter and the pair end up being like Bonnie and Clyde and Robin Hood all in one, as they start robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. 

Vincent Kartheiser is sufficiently creepy as the wealthy man who wants his daughter back, but wants even more to keep people oppressed. 

I give the movie an extra half star for being original.  Rating:  * * *.5

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