Enter a place where time is a commodity as well as a currency. Time is payment, and time is money. Time is everything. And nothing. This has to be one of the coolest sci-fi thrillers of the year, and Justin Timberlake has to be in the very best shape of his life to do the kind of running that he does throughout the story. The story, by the way, is simple in its basic premise of staying alive, but “staying alive” takes on a special meaning when you know exactly how much time you have to live. And so, everything you do or don’t do is a function of how much time you can earn, beg, borrow, or steal.
I found this to be quite a fascinating concept of measuring one’s life in a set number of years, and all the ramifications that this knowledge brings with it. You essentially begin to live each day of your life as if it might be your very last, and you tend to cherish so greatly every moment that you can add to your existence, because it is a most wondrous gift! Well, these were my own philosophical interpretations of this unusual theme, but even without it, the story in and of itself is one that is engaging at the very least, and fascinating at the very best! This is one sci-fi flick where the people look just like regular folks, and the place doesn’t look alien at all, albeit perhaps a little run-down in an industrial way.
Justin is very cool as the hero, Amanda Seyfried looks like a doll on stilletoes, and Justin’s mother is the amazing Olivia Wilde of House fame. Beyond the casting of these pretty people, there’s a bit of everything: couple-on-the-run, mother-son devotion, rebellious daughter-commandeering father, gangstas in shiny black coats, and a little bit of romance along the way– all with time desperately running out!
