In Time

This week I saw “In Time”.  This is a Future Drama/Action Film.  I could fit it into the Sci-Fi/Crime genera as well – however comparing it to Blade Runner would not be fair to Blade Runner.  Let me say up front that the mainstream critics did not like the film.  Most of the criticism I’ve read says that the movie did not live up to its potential, and to some extent I agree, if could have been fantastic and it wasn’t.  That said, in my opinion, it was really good.  It was entertaining, held  my interest, was thought provoking at times, exciting at times, funny at times, and a couple of scenes even had me on the edge of my seat.  I give this half of a pizza and half of a pitcher of beer.  It is fulfilling, but you leave wanting just one more piece.

If you want some plot comparisons, I’d say this is a cross between Logan’s Run, Bonnie and Clyde, Robin Hood and the Patty Hearst Story…with a hint of the Matrix stylization thrown into the mix for good measure.

Plot Summary and Styling:
In the future, genetic alteration has developed a system where individuals stop aging 25 years after birth. Due to over-population concerns, time has replaced money as the only currency and people must acquire more time through labor and commercial means after turning 25 years of age, or die within a year.  Each social class lives in a different area called a Time Zone: The poor live in the ghettos and work, beg, gamble or steal 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 zones, and can live for centuries based on how much time they have accrued. Now there is a social commentary for you – the Rich isolated from the poor, with all the time in the world, literally.

While the film is set in a future (hopefully not the future), the style contains a whole slew of retro influences, many from the 1960’s and 1970’s. As an example, many vehicles used for the film are actually 1960s and 1970s muscle cars and limos, but heavily modified to make them look futuristic. Furthermore, a lot of buildings, both interior and exteriors, display retro influences as well. In addition, the ghetto, in which Salas was raised, was heavily influenced by hip-hop culture from the 1970s. In the wealthy Zone of New Greenwich where the Weis family lives the buildings resemble 1960s architecture that you used to see in Disney’s Tomorrowland. Here, the film's characters also wear retro-futuristic clothing

Main Characters:

Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is from the ghetto, lives day to day – hour by hour actually, and helps support his mother.  Nice kid.  It seems Justin Timberlake is really branching out these days – he has come a long way from ripping off Janet Jackson’s top at the Super Bowl.  At first, it was hard to take him seriously in movies, but he is actually a pretty good actor, and he plays this role well.  He isn‘t going to win an Academy Award for the performance, but nobody in this film will, the medium is not critically polished enough.  Salas is given a ton of time, by a rich guy who is fed up with the system and fed up with living, but not truly living. All that time, in a place it doesn’t belong, throws off the balance of time between the rich and the poor as Salas tries to integrate and well, anymore here would be a plot spoiler.

Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) is not from the ghetto, far from it, she comes from time (get is, as opposed to coming from money – Ha, I liked that)…her father is a time mogul.  As opposed to a money lender, he is a “time lender”.   With a last name of “Weis” the director/writer is not so subtlety  beating the audience over the head with the Jewish Moneylender comparisons of old.  Anyway, Amanda Seyfried is hot in this movie, what am I saying, she is hot in everything she does…see her performance alongside Megan Fox in “Jennifer’s Body” for a point of reference if you want.  Here she plays the spoiled rich girl that wants to rebel…and rebel she does. She goes so far as shooting a “Time Keeper”.

Time Keeper Leon (Cillian Murphy) is old school, and the character reminds me of Agent Smith from the Matrix.  I did not know much about Cillian Murphy, so I looked him up.  He was “Scarecrow” in The Dark Knight, and will reprise that role in the upcoming Dark Knight film, and he was in “Inception” – which was a great movie that was totally misunderstood by most critics and viewers.  The role of the Time Keeper is to monitor time, and make sure time does not get out of place…basically keep it in the hands of the rich…and keep the poor in their place.  It is the system, and Time Keeper Leon has been enforcing the “rules” of the system for more than 50 years.  He knows nothing else, and refuses to care about anything else as the fabric of society is woven by these rules.  Without rules and those to keep them, there would be chaos.

Rachel Salas (Olivia Wilde) is Will’s mother.  Olivia Wilde has been getting a lot of A list movies these days, and while her roles in Tron Legacy and Cowboy’s and Aliens were much larger, but this was still an important one…and if you think hearing that Olivia Wilde is Justin Timeberlake’s mom is weird, imagine seeing it on screen.  It is a freaky dynamic.  Wilde was born in 1984 and Timberlake in 1981, but the key here is that in the film everyone stops aging at age 25.  As I mentioned, this role is not huge, but it is pivotal, as it is the events surrounding Rachel Salas that trigger the plot of the film.  Again, I do not give things away in these reviews, especially in reviews of movies that I think you should see, but suffice to say, without Rachel, the movie would not really have a starting point.   ...and besides, it’s Olivia Wilde, how could I not mention her,  she was rated #1 on Maxim’s Hot 100 in 2009. 

My main issue with this film is the following:  Both Rachel Salas and Sylvia Weis do a lot of running, and they do it in very high heels.  Now I know women can walk, and even run, in heels (Glamour magazine held a high heels race and the winner got 10,000 euros); but come on, if you are looking for speed, take them off, even running in bare feet would be faster.   Each time one of the female characters takes off running, it is pretty darn important that they run fast, but they do it in their heels.  Ummm, no...and I know it is a small issue but still, come on.

So, take off your watch and make some time in your day or evening for “In Time”; I think it is worth it, and with that, my time is up.

The Ides of March

The Ides of March takes place during the frantic last days before a heavily contested Ohio presidential primary, when up-and-coming assistant campaign manager, Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) finds himself as the focal point of a political scandal that threatens to upend his candidate's shot at the presidency.  The film is an adaptation of Beau Willimon's 2008 play Farragut North, and you should go see it to how it all works out.

The term “Ides of March” is the name of the 15th of March in the Roman calendar, probably referring to the day of the full moon. In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, Caesar visited a seer who had foretold that harm would come to him not later than the Ides of March. This meeting is famously dramatized in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March”.  What any of this has to do with the film, I’ve not been able to determine…but it never hurts to have a little history before talking about Pizza and Beer. 

So on to the Rating:  This film gets two thirds of a pizza and half a pitcher of beer.  When I first came home from seeing this film, I told my wife that it was really, really good.  Over time, that enthusiasm has not lingered.  I saw it last week, so it has been a few days.  I still think it is a really good movie to see, it is entertaining for sure, it is just one that over time does not really stick with you, like Gosling’s other current film does (Drive – also reviewed on this blog – is one that I feel leaves you with something).

Time to meet the players:

The film is directed by George Clooney and he also is a co-writer (Beau Willimon is the other)…and Clooney is also one of the film’s stars – busy guy.  George Clooney’s character is Gov. Mike Morris, a Democratic candidate running for the Presidential nomination. As noted above, Ryan Gosling is one of the stars as well, actually, he is the lead actor and his character is Stephen Meyers, and if we are talking Academy Awards (which, while it was a good performance, I doubt a nomination is forthcoming).  I didn't put a picture of Gosling in as he is in each of the following, with the co stars...The other primary roles are as follows:

Molly Stern – Political Intern on the Morris campaign and daughter of the chairman of the DNC.  Molly is played by Evan Rachel Ward.  The film would be missing a very large plot vehicle if this character were not a part of it – I don’t want to give much away, as I think you should see the film, but there is definitely a Clinton/Lewinsky thing going on here. On a side note, Evan Rachel Ward is hot.  Not in a Angelina Jolie as Laura Croft in Tomb Raider kinda way, but more in a Scar Jo as Kay Lake in Black Dahlia kinda way.
Paul Phillip – Gov. Morris’ Campaign Manager.  Phillip is played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, recently of MoneyBall – he played the A’s Manager in that film; and it is amazing to me just how many really good movies this guy has been in…check him out on IMDb (Internet Movie Database) if you are not familiar with them.  Anyway, I’d say Hoffman does a very good job portraying the long time, grizzled campaign vet here.  He is jaded, cynical, smokes, and never is really straight with people, even though he is telling them he is.
Tom Duffy – Campaign Manager of the opponent.  Duffy is played by Paul Giamatti, another fine actor who is probably best known for his role in the acclaimed movie “Sideways” which I did not really like all that much.  It was a long time ago, and maybe my tastes have changed, but as I recall, it was just tedious to watch.  Here, he does a good job of getting into the political muck that is a campaign.  He knows how to play the game dirty, and he is not afraid to do so.
Ida Horowicz – Times Political Reporter.  Horowicz is played by Maria Tomei (see, I told you there were lots of stars in this film).  Horowicz is a grizzled veteran reporter of many elections.  She knows how the give and take game is played, and she is not afraid to “do what it takes” to get the story…even if it is not honest, and the story is not really accurate.  I just noticed that I’ve used “grizzled” in describing two of the main characters…and I’m not going to go back and change it, as it fits.  I guess you often hear the term “grizzled” when referring to political/campaign players.

One of my favorite quotes from the film:

Stephen Meyers: Were gonna be fine. We have to do it, it's the right thing to do and nothing bad happens when you’re doing the right thing.
Governor Mike Morris: Is this your personal theory? Cause I can shoot holes in it.

All in all, this is a taught, political thriller.  I liked it.  It is well acted, and it is well directed.