Action and justice come just In Time

I must admit that I wanted to see “In Time” because I am deeply in love with Justin Timberlake. After viewing the film, I was stunned to find that it also presents an intensely rich message and I am confident that Timberlake’s acting career will continue to soar.

“In Time” is set in a bleak near-future where time is currency. Everyone gets the first 25 years free, and after that one must “buy” more time. You work for time, you loan time and you steal time. The poor run everywhere because they can’t afford to waste seconds. The wealthy can live to be well over 100 years old and spend their days gambling with their time, or living in fear that they will be robbed of their lives. The rich can be immortal as long as they keep time out of the hands of those in the ghettos.

Will Salas (Timberlake) is poor and comes into an immense fortune—a whole century—from a man who has lived so long that he is willing to give his time freely. In fact, he gives Salas all of his time, committing suicide to end his life of suffering.

The action begins when a Timekeeper, played by Cillian Murphy, comes to suspect that Salas has stolen the time. Even more trouble comes when Alex Pettyfer’s character, a Minuteman who basically hunts down weaklings in the ghetto and forces them to fight for their time, comes after Salas.

The film’s plot is complicated, but it is also rich with ideas about social justice and the gap between the rich and the poor.

0Stylistically, “In Time” mixes the old and the new. The metropolises are futuristic but the cars look like classic ‘70s hot-rods.

The action is fast-paced, which I liked because I can only take so many screeching tire wheels.

Although the acting is at some points stale and the constant cuts to glowing green clocks are repetitive, the story is intense enough to eclipse those factors.

Timberlake gives a deeply stoic and yet charming performance.

The characters are in a constant state of urgency, which in itself is thrilling. They are literally running for their lives.

The theme of distributing the wealth of time, even with mortality looming just over the horizon, restores hope in humanity.

Approaching the film from a Christian perspective, “In Time” really makes you consider how you spend your God-given time.