NEW Zealand-born screenwriter Andrew Niccol has consistently conjured dark clouds with his dystopian visions of life in the 21st century and beyond.
His debut feature, Gattaca, starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, cast a chill with its depiction of a society determined by genetic superiority.
Niccol won an Oscar for The Truman Show, which took the concept of a Big Brother reality TV series to chilling extremes, and for his latest film, which he also directs, Niccol imagines a world in which money has become obsolete and the currency is time.
People are engineered to age until they reach 25 years old, then a timer, embedded in their arm, ticks down to their demise.
You can earn, steal or inherit more time to extend your life expectancy, leading to a vast divide between the haves and have-nots.
The wealthy are essentially immortal: forever 25 years old in physical appearance, with centuries on their body clocks.
Meanwhile, the poor live from one day to the next, unsure if they will be able to claw back enough minutes to see perhaps one more sunrise.
Will Salas (Timberlake) lives in the ghetto with his mother, making ends meet by working at a factory.
During a night out, Will has a chance encounter with handsome yet suicidal rich man Henry Hamilton (Bomer) who donates 100 years of his time to Will's body clock.
Granted access to the most exclusive parts of the city, Will learns the truth about how Philippe Weis (Kartheiser) and the men in power manipulate the populace for their own gain.
Will vows to bring down the corrupt system, forging an unlikely alliance with Philippe's rebellious daughter Sylvia (Seyfried).
Meanwhile, time thief Fortis (Pettyfer) and timekeeper Raymond Leon (Murphy) both hunt for Will, to take back the time Henry gave away.
In Time is a neat concept, stylishly executed, with some well-orchestrated action sequences.
Timberlake is an appealing hero, defiantly proclaiming kindling smouldering screen chemistry with Seyfried, whose role is underwritten, and Murphy brings depth to his hunter.
Niccol's film holds our interest, building to a satisfying if improbable close that ensures we don't feel like we have wasted 109 minutes.
