In Time

In the bleak, futuristic sci-fi world of In Time, people have only one more year to live after they reach the age of 25—as indicated by a glowing digital clock on their forearms—but extra time can be bought, sold, exchanged, traded, or stolen. Time is the key currency: wages are paid in minutes and hours; rent might cost several days, a phone call one minute, and an hour earns a brief interlude with a prostitute. For working-class Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) and his mother, Rachel (Olivia Wilde), it's a constant challenge to keep their timepiece from hitting zero—such as when Rachel fatally underestimates bus fare. But the very rich, including industrialist Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser), literally bank on immortality. After Will encounters a suicidal stranger (Matt Bomer) and receives an unexpected gift, he kidnaps Weis's daughter, Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), who falls in love with Will and wants to work with him to change the system—an effort threatened by the dogged pursuit of an unstoppable Timekeeper (Cillian Murphy). Unfortunately, writer-director Andrew Niccol's slick, dystopian allegory never answers critical questions—including why the kidnapping of Sylvia would effect a sweeping change in society's global economic structure. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted/extended scenes (13 min.) and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is “The Minutes” featurette on the origins of the time-based society (17 min.), the BD-Live function, and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for an elliptical thriller.] (S. Granger)