Opening Friday: In Time, "the Occupy Wall Street of science fiction films"

When it comes to science fiction Andrew Niccol is more like Ray Bradbury than Ben Bova - he's not interested in the technical aspects but on the people affected by the strange futures that he dreams up. SIMONE, flawed as it was, touched upon how technology distances humanity. GATTACA addressed what it meant to be "perfect," genetically. And IN TIME is very much a film about the idea of class and wealth in today's Great Recession society. It's extremely timely in that regard - Andrew Niccol couldn't have predicted the current unrest specifically, but he saw the writing on the wall when he wrote IN TIME, and the result is a film that feels very much an allegory for modern life today.

IN TIME is full of ideas, and Andrew Niccol explores a world in which the wealthy live forever while the poor run around taking every moment of life they can. The allegory isn't subtle, for certain - we see people borrowing time with interest, and while prices and rates go up, those who can't afford it perish in the streets. Meanwhile the Timekeepers make sure that time stays allotted to the right people, and the lower classes must live out their lives in desperation. IN TIME is rich with ideas, almost too much so, and yet anyone with a liberal bone in their body will practically cheer at the message here, while conservatives will grumble. It's the Occupy Wall Street of science fiction films.

I recommend IN TIME - I enjoyed it quite a bit, but mostly for the social message and the world Niccol builds. It's got pacing problems, some plot holes that are pretty sizable, but it all comes down to the moviegoer and what they are willing to gloss over. I was willing to gloss over quite a bit because of what the film was trying to say, but I still recognized that the problems were there. I may be in the minority on IN TIME - I found it mostly captivating, interesting, and stuffed with ideas, but I could also see how other moviegoers would get frustrated with it. In any case, Niccol has put his hand on the pulse of what's happening in our society right now, and he addresses those issues in a fascinating way. I think IN TIME is worth seeing alone for that.