In Time - 2 1/2 smiles

“In Time,” starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, takes place in the distant future where time is literally money. Time can be bought, sold, traded and stolen. Rent might cost several days and three hours might buy a short bus ride. For the working class, it’s a constant struggle to keep the clock from hitting zero, which results in death. For the rich, with hundreds or thousands of hours in the bank, life moves slowly and is carefree. However, one man who has more than a century left to live, is tired and wants to die so he gives Will Salas (Timberlake) his time. Will leaves the ghetto and heads for the zone where the wealthy live. There, he’s invited to a party at the home of one of the wealthiest men, Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser). When a Timekeeper (Cillian Murphy) accuses Will of murder and time theft, Will takes Weis’ daughter, Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), hostage and goes on the run. She quickly becomes his accomplice and the two go on a crime spree, stealing time from banks owned by Philippe and giving it to the poor.

The biggest problem with “In Time” is that an interesting premise quickly devolves into a routine Bonnie & Clyde-meets-Robin-Hood action flick with car chases, heists, and gunplay. Timberlake and Seyfried make a cute couple, but they aren’t given much to do other than play the generic action hero and his equally generic love interest. Writer-director Andrew Niccol doesn’t take enough time to make their relationship credible. However, Seyfried looks gorgeous with her dark, red, blunt-cut bob and fashionable clothes. The downside of that, though, is that she has to run in heels – a lot. Which was a distraction for me because I kept asking, ‘How can she run in those heels?’ But if you can get past that and the many time puns (‘Have you got a minute?’ or ‘You’re taking forever’), you might enjoy this movie. 10/29/11