In Time

In Time

Official poster
Directed by Andrew Niccol
Produced by Andrew Niccol
Marc Abraham
Amy Israel
Kristel Laiblin
Eric Newman
Written by Andrew Niccol
Starring Amanda Seyfried
Justin Timberlake
Cillian Murphy
Olivia Wilde
Alex Pettyfer
Vincent Kartheiser
Johnny Galecki
Music by Craig Armstrong
Cinematography Roger Deakins
Editing by Zach Staenberg
Studio Regency Enterprises
New Regency
Strike Entertainment
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) October 28, 2011 (2011-10-28)
Running time 109 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $40 million[1]
Box office $133,456,625[2]

In Time, previously titled Now and I'm.mortal,[3] is a 2011 dystopian science fiction-thriller film starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Galecki, and Vincent Kartheiser. The film, written, directed and produced by Andrew Niccol, was released on October 28, 2011.

Contents

Synopsis

By 2161, genetic alteration has allowed humanity to stop aging at 25 but people are required to earn more time after turning 25 or die within a year. 'Living time', which can be transferred among individuals, has replaced money and its availability is displayed on an implant on people's lower arm. When that clock reaches zero, one dies instantly. Society is divided by social class living in specialized towns called, 'Time Zones'. The poor live in the ghettos of Dayton, where youth predominates, and must work each day to earn a few more hours of life, which they must also use to pay for everyday necessities. The rich live in the luxurious city-like town called New Greenwich, in which the middle-aged and elderly predominate. They drive fast electric cars, and can live for centuries.

28-year-old factory worker Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) lives with his mother Rachel (Olivia Wilde) in the ghettos. One day, Will saves rich 105-year-old Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer) from suffering a time-robbery assault in a bar where he flaunts his time around buying people drinks. Hamilton is attacked by Fortis (Alex Pettyfer), the elderly Briton mobster boss of a middle-aged gang called the Minutemen. Will leads Hamilton to safety, where Hamilton says to Will, "For few to be immortal many must die", as there is essentially enough time for everyone to live a full life, but it is stockpiled for the rich to become immortal. An upset Will argues that no one should die before their time naturally ends so that others may live, upon which Hamilton describes how he no longer even desires life, in saying "though your body may not be worn out, your mind is. We want, we need, to die."

Later that night, Hamilton transfers 116 years to the sleeping Will, keeping only five minutes for himself, which he uses to go and sit on a ledge on a bridge. As his time expires, Hamilton falls into the river below. Will arrives too late to save him, realizes he has been filmed by a nearby surveillance camera, and flees the area. Resident police force, the Timekeepers, have various theories as to his death. A young timekeeper, correctly assumes Hamilton had "timed out', a.k.a. killed himself, but veteran Timekeeper Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy) is convinced he was murdered by a Dayton resident.

Will awaits his mother at a bus station, only to discover that she didn't have enough time to pay for her usual bus ride after the price suddenly increased. He rushes down the street to find her. They encounter each other on foot, and as she runs and leaps into his arms, her time expires before her son can help her and she dies in his arms. Remembering what Hamilton told him about the inequity of the time system, Will decides to seek revenge, and leaves for New Greenwich, the wealthy time zone, with over a century on his clock. Upon arrival, he enters a casino, where he meets an old millionaire, time-loaning businessman Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser) and his daughter Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried). Sylvia becomes interested in Will after a tense gambling table showdown where Will beats her father in poker with only one second to spare on his clock, and she invites Will to a party at her father's mansion.

At the mansion, Will is apprehended by Leon, who confiscates most of his time, but Will then escapes taking Sylvia hostage. Returning to the ghetto with her, he drives into an ambush of Fortis', who, in disappointment to find that the unconscious Will was in possession of Hamilton's time but lost it, steals most of Sylvia's, only failing to take the last half hour as the approach of the Timekeepers forces him to leave the scene. Will returns to consciousness and gives Sylvia some of his remaining time so they can return to his old neighborhood. They first visit Borel to retrieve some time Will gave him earlier as their time is running out soon, only to find out from Borel's grief-stricken wife that he has drunk himself to death with 9 years on his clock. Sylvia pawns her jewelry for the meager price of 2 days. Finding themselves shelter later, Will makes a call to Weis demanding a 1,000 years' ransom for Sylvia, to be distributed to the people of the ghetto. Leon traces Will's location from his phone call, and heads to Dayton in pursuit.

The following day, as Will prepares to release Sylvia, he discovers that Weis did not pay the ransom, but Will decides to let Sylvia go regardless. Leon appears and almost kills Will, but is shot in the shoulder by Sylvia. Will then transfers four hours of time to the disarmed Leon so that he is able to walk out of Dayton before he "times out". Will and Sylvia escape in Leon's car. Later, Will tells her that she still has a chance to walk away from the situation, but she decides to remain by his side, saying there is no purpose to the life she once had in New Greenwich. They begin a series of Time Bank robberies, stealing the Time Capsules which store time equivalents and distributing them to the poor, getting a bounty of 10 years on their heads. Fortis eventually tracks down Will and Sylvia a second time, and challenges Will to a Time Fight. Will dominates the fight by using the technique he learned from his late father, then shoots the remaining Minutemen while Fortis dies in the time fight, his time transferred to Will.

Will and Sylvia realize their previous efforts were futile, as the rich have the power to simply increase the cost of living in the ghettos to maintain the status quo. They succeed in stealing a million years from Weis' private headquarters in a Time Capsule, escaping all resistance on their way out and reaching Dayton. Upon arrival, Leon crashes his car into Will's, but Will is able to hand the Time Capsule to a young girl who then distributes the time among the people. Leon eventually catches up with Will and Sylvia outside the city, holding them at gunpoint. Will jokingly asks Leon to return some of the time he previously loaned him so that they can survive till their executions, but Leon realizes that he had neglected to replenish his own time before going after them, and dies. Will and Sylvia are left with seconds to live, but Will runs to Leon's car and takes his allotted time, and transfers it to Sylvia seconds before she is about to die, a scene mirroring his mother's death.

Will and Sylvia continue robbing banks as part of their efforts to crash the system, now with a bounty of 100 years on their heads, while the rich attempt to cope with the sudden surge of people who now have enough time to change zones arriving from the ghettos. A news broadcast shows as the factories, in which also Will once worked, are no longer in action.

Cast

Plagiarism suit

On September 15, 2011, according to The Hollywood Reporter, a suit was filed by attorneys on behalf of speculative fiction writer Harlan Ellison that the plot of the movie was based on his award-winning 1965 short-story, ""Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman". The suit, naming New Regency and director Andrew Niccol as well as a number of anonymous John Does, appears to base its claim on the similarity that both the completed film along with Ellison's story concern a dystopian future in which people have a set amount of time to live which can be revoked, given certain pertaining circumstances by a recognized authority known as a Timekeeper. Initially, the suit demanded an injunction against the film's release;[4] however, Ellison later altered his suit to instead ask for screen credit[5] before ultimately dropping the suit, with both sides releasing the following joint statement: "After seeing the film In Time, Harlan Ellison decided to voluntarily dismiss the Action. No payment or screen credit was promised or given to Harlan Ellison. The parties wish each other well, and have no further comment on the matter." [6]

Production

On July 12, 2010, it was reported that Amanda Seyfried had been offered a lead role.[7] On July 27, 2010, it was confirmed that Justin Timberlake had been offered a lead role.[8] On August 9, 2010, Cillian Murphy was confirmed to have joined the cast.[9]

The first photos from the set were revealed on October 28, 2010.[10] 20th Century Fox and New Regency distributed the film, and Marc Abraham and Eric Newman's Strike Entertainment produced it.[11]

In an interview with Kristopher Tapley of InContention.com Roger Deakins stated that he would be shooting the film in digital, which makes this the first film to be shot in digital by the veteran cinematographer.[12]

The Dayton scenes were filmed primarily in the Skid Row and Boyle Heights neighborhoods of Los Angeles, while the New Greenwich scenes were filmed primarily in Century City, Bel Air, and Malibu.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Review-aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 38% of 138 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.2 out of 10. The website's consensus is, "In Time's intriguing premise and appealing cast is easily overpowered by the stilted filmmaking, which takes a blunt, heavy-handed approach to storytelling."[13] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 53 based on 36 reviews.[14] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B-minus" on an A+ to F scale.[15]

Box office

The film opened in third place, behind Puss in Boots and Paranormal Activity 3, with $12 million.[15] The movie has currently made $133 million worldwide ($37 million domestically).[2]

References

  1. ^ Kaufman, Amy (October 27, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Puss in Boots' to stomp on competition". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/10/box-office-puss-in-boots-in-time-rum-diary.html. Retrieved October 27, 2011. 
  2. ^ a b "In Time (2011)". Box Office Mojo. 2011-12-22. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=now.htm. Retrieved 2011-12-27. 
  3. ^ Rich, Katey (2010-11-01). "I'm.mortal Retitled Now, Adds Alex Pettyfer And Matt Bomer To Cast". Cinema Blend. http://cinemablend.com/new/I-m-mortal-Retitled-Now-Adds-Alex-Pettyfer-And-Matt-Bomer-To-Cast-21491.html. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 
  4. ^ Gardner, Eriq. "Harlan Ellison Sues Claiming Fox's 'In Time' Rips Off Sci-Fi Story (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. September 15, 2011
  5. ^ Ellison Wins 'In Time' Lawsuit -- But Only Asks For Credit To Be Given
  6. ^ "Ellison drops lawsuit after watching In Time". scifistorm.org. 1 December 2011. http://scifistorm.org/2011/12/01/ellison-drops-lawsuit-after-watching-in-time//. 
  7. ^ Gallagher, Brian (2010-07-12). "Amanda Seyfried Signs on to I'm.mortal". MovieWeb.com. http://www.movieweb.com/news/NE36cc5aTpJx5c. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 
  8. ^ Douglas, Edward (2010-07-27). "Justin Timberlake Leading I'm.mortal?". ComingSoon.net. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=68287. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 
  9. ^ Gallagher, Brian (2010-08-09). "Cillian Murphy to Star in I'm.mortal". MovieWeb.com. http://www.movieweb.com/news/NE1rNPRWpMpc54. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 
  10. ^ "Timberlake and Seyfried Spotted Filming Their New Thriller". ComingSoon.net. 2010-10-28. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=71240. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 
  11. ^ Sneider, Jeff (2010-08-09). "Justin Timberlake, Cillian Murphy in Talks to Join 'I'm.mortal". TheWrap.com. http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/justin-timberlake-cillian-murphy-talks-join-immortal-19974. Retrieved 2010-12-10. 
  12. ^ Tapley, Kristopher (2010-12-22). "TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘True Grit’ cinematographer Roger Deakins". InContention.com. http://incontention.com/2010/12/22/tech-support-interview-true-grit-cinematographer-roger-deakins. Retrieved 2010-12-30. 
  13. ^ "In Time (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_time/. Retrieved October 28, 2011. 
  14. ^ "In Time Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. http://www.metacritic.com/movie/in-time. Retrieved October 28, 2011. 
  15. ^ a b Finke, Nikki (October 30, 2011). "Snow Ices Box Office: ‘Puss In Boots’ #1, ‘Paranormal’ #2, ‘In Time’ #3, ‘Rum Diary’ #4". Deadline.com. PMC. http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/first-box-office-puss-in-boots-1-paranormal-activity-3-2-in-time-3-footloose-4-the-rum-diary-5/#more-188635. Retrieved October 30, 2011. 

External links