Just watched In Time (2011 Justin Timberlake Movie)
Plot -
Everyone stops aging at 25, but then only has 1 more year to live, when they turn 25, their clock starts. After the clock starts, they can earn more time by getting jobs and working for it, or lose time by gambling or being robbed. Time is the currency, so a cup of coffee might cost 4 hours, and a car costs 3 years for example.
Rich people can basically live forever.
JT plays Will Solis a "ghetto poor" citizen who is "gifted" 112 years by a suicidal "rich guy" who had 112 years on his clock.
Except, having that kind of "money" can get you killed, and aside from the danger he faces in his own neighborhood, the cops (headed by Cillian Murphy) think he stole it, and even if he did not steal it, he doesn't deserve to have it.
JT then goes on the run, escaping the law, and kidnaps Time Mogul Rich dudes daughter (Amanda Seyfried) who of course falls for him.
Starting points
1 - It is Robin Hood plot meets Logan's Run dystopia hints.
2 - It has some moments of great cinematography.
3 - The script was actually rather good.
That being said:
The greatest and most griping scene in my opinion is where JT's mom (who looks 25 but is actually 50 played by Olivia Wilde) is running towards him because her time is running out and the bus driver wouldn't let her on the bus. The bus fair went up and she couldn't afford to get on.
JT waited at the bus stop for her, but when she didn't get on the bus - he started running to where she would have been walking home.
This scene is extremely well done and JT actually pulls off a heart wrenching moment where his mom's clock runs out just before she gets to him. She dies in his arms.
Problem is - he almost forgets all about it within 24 hours - he barely mentions it the rest of the movie, and you lose any sense of "Justice for my Mom" by the time he goes on the run with Amanda Seyfried.
In Robin Hood - Robin steals from the rich to give to the poor. However, in Robin Hood he is stealing from the evil Sheriff Notingham who is corrupt and overtaxing the people.
In Time - The Weis fella (girls rich daddy) doesn't appear to be corrupt, only RICH. It is never established that Weis is unlawfully taxing the poor - in fact the taxes appear to effect everyone, even the rich (though not in spirit)
JT says that he is only stealing back what has been stolen first - however they never officially establish that the poor folks time is being STOLEN from them.Heck, the only ones STEALING time from the poor, are their own poor thugs. The cost of living increases, tax hikes, and inflation happen even in real life, and we don't consider it "stealing" from the poverty class.
In Robin Hood - Robin STOPS being a theif/hood as soon as he defeats Nottingham and King Richard returns from the crusades to bring harmony back to the land. There is conflict resolution there.
Robin doesn't want to steal forever - he just wants to stop Nottingham and bring order and justice back. He accomplishes this goal, and King Richards return means Robin can stop being on the wrong side of the law.
In Time - JT never brings order, he brings chaos. He doesn't get rid of any evil aside from killing the ghetto thugs, and no one (President maybe?) comes back to usher in harmony again. JT ends up staying a criminal, and now rich daddy's girl becomes a criminal bank robber with him. 1,000,000 years is really NOTHING. They talk of the system crashing, but if Time is the currency - all that they did at best is give 1 more year to a million people. Which would pretty much amount to nothing more than a government kickback to stimulate the economy.
(not to mention LOL at the ending - two people with handguns aren't going to do so well robbing the national treasury)
Questions
Have you seen it?
What is your opinion on the "Robin Hood" issues I brought up?
Do you think that Time as Currency could work at all? Would it be possible to do without being inherently anti-poor?
Private Mod Note
():
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Thanks to Xenphire @ Inkfox for the amazing new sig
“Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments
are we bound to prosperity and ruin.”
― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Not seen it, reviews were bad.
robin hood is usually a sucky ideas, no exception here.
How can any system NOT work against the "poor"? It's why we call them "poor".
Yeah, the reviews weren't too far off. I enjoyed it, but i wouldn't call it a great movie.
A waste I think of Cillian Murphy
robin hood is usually a sucky ideas, no exception here.
Sometimes the Robin Hood plot can be done well.
How can any system NOT work against the "poor"? It's why we call them "poor".
Well it doesn't work well at all in the movie.
But what about real life?
Poor people are poor because they do not have as much MONEY - but if Time was the money - a poor person wouldn't necessarily be poor.
Ignore for a moment the movies contrived rules (you stop aging at 25, and get 1 year on the clock - work from there) That obviously sucks for the poor. Especially since the rich give their children extra time as soon as their clocks started.
Amanda Seyfried: "My dad gave me a DECADE to celebrate my birthday"
for example.
However, if we used Time - then even a person we might consider poor now (because they have little money and/or poor education) might have plenty of TIME because they are very healthy and work two jobs to get more time.
So take the same person who works at taco bell and pizza hut today living paycheck to paycheck - they may be considered "working poor" because they do not make enough to live better.
But a healthy hard working person, who might live till they are say 80 years old - they could be rich
To be honest its complicated - but I think the "poor" would change drastically if Time was money. After all, an old man with a heart condition might be poor, even if he owned a bunch of stuff.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Thanks to Xenphire @ Inkfox for the amazing new sig
“Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments
are we bound to prosperity and ruin.”
― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
I just watched it. And it was bad. I wanted to like it. I really did but the trailer revealed a a very sophisticated plot that had so much potential. And what did they give us? Justin Timberlake being robin hood in a society where time is money? It sucked.
Also the camera work, script, and plot pacing was not what it could have been. It is kind of sad that this is what they came up with considering the budget and cast.
I thought the scene where Olivia dies was terrible. When she couldnt get on the bus, however, that was sad.
Overuse of time terminology was insane.
Cillian's odd suicidal restriction really couldve been more lenient.
Every time death was awfully silly.
And being able to kill people by arm wrestling is whack.
Good concept + poor execution isn't just a new movie thing. I thought the idea behind total recall was great but the movie is rather overcooked. I mean the original.
I thought the scene where Olivia dies was terrible. When she couldnt get on the bus, however, that was sad.
Overuse of time terminology was insane.
Cillian's odd suicidal restriction really couldve been more lenient.
Every time death was awfully silly.
And being able to kill people by arm wrestling is whack.
Good concept + poor execution isn't just a new movie thing. I thought the idea behind total recall was great but the movie is rather overcooked. I mean the original.
Wow spoiler tags please. Not everyone has In Time yet, including me!
I was more fascinated by the chromed out Shelby Cobra and the quantity of matte black '70 Challenger cop cars with light-bar grills (I wanna get my hands on one of those someday...).
The movie itself, to me, wasn't all that bad. Sometimes you need to shut your over-analytical brains off and enjoy the movie. The points made of Robin Hood were fine, but I don't see this as such a Robin Hood-esque movie. If I were to compare it to anything, I'd compare it to a pseudo foil of Bonnie and Clyde. They're more like romantic robbers than generous thieves.
Plot -
Everyone stops aging at 25, but then only has 1 more year to live, when they turn 25, their clock starts. After the clock starts, they can earn more time by getting jobs and working for it, or lose time by gambling or being robbed. Time is the currency, so a cup of coffee might cost 4 hours, and a car costs 3 years for example.
Rich people can basically live forever.
JT plays Will Solis a "ghetto poor" citizen who is "gifted" 112 years by a suicidal "rich guy" who had 112 years on his clock.
Except, having that kind of "money" can get you killed, and aside from the danger he faces in his own neighborhood, the cops (headed by Cillian Murphy) think he stole it, and even if he did not steal it, he doesn't deserve to have it.
JT then goes on the run, escaping the law, and kidnaps Time Mogul Rich dudes daughter (Amanda Seyfried) who of course falls for him.
Starting points
1 - It is Robin Hood plot meets Logan's Run dystopia hints.
2 - It has some moments of great cinematography.
3 - The script was actually rather good.
That being said:
The greatest and most griping scene in my opinion is where JT's mom (who looks 25 but is actually 50 played by Olivia Wilde) is running towards him because her time is running out and the bus driver wouldn't let her on the bus. The bus fair went up and she couldn't afford to get on.
JT waited at the bus stop for her, but when she didn't get on the bus - he started running to where she would have been walking home.
This scene is extremely well done and JT actually pulls off a heart wrenching moment where his mom's clock runs out just before she gets to him. She dies in his arms.
Problem is - he almost forgets all about it within 24 hours - he barely mentions it the rest of the movie, and you lose any sense of "Justice for my Mom" by the time he goes on the run with Amanda Seyfried.
In Robin Hood - Robin steals from the rich to give to the poor. However, in Robin Hood he is stealing from the evil Sheriff Notingham who is corrupt and overtaxing the people.
In Time - The Weis fella (girls rich daddy) doesn't appear to be corrupt, only RICH. It is never established that Weis is unlawfully taxing the poor - in fact the taxes appear to effect everyone, even the rich (though not in spirit)
JT says that he is only stealing back what has been stolen first - however they never officially establish that the poor folks time is being STOLEN from them.Heck, the only ones STEALING time from the poor, are their own poor thugs. The cost of living increases, tax hikes, and inflation happen even in real life, and we don't consider it "stealing" from the poverty class.
In Robin Hood - Robin STOPS being a theif/hood as soon as he defeats Nottingham and King Richard returns from the crusades to bring harmony back to the land. There is conflict resolution there.
Robin doesn't want to steal forever - he just wants to stop Nottingham and bring order and justice back. He accomplishes this goal, and King Richards return means Robin can stop being on the wrong side of the law.
In Time - JT never brings order, he brings chaos. He doesn't get rid of any evil aside from killing the ghetto thugs, and no one (President maybe?) comes back to usher in harmony again. JT ends up staying a criminal, and now rich daddy's girl becomes a criminal bank robber with him. 1,000,000 years is really NOTHING. They talk of the system crashing, but if Time is the currency - all that they did at best is give 1 more year to a million people. Which would pretty much amount to nothing more than a government kickback to stimulate the economy.
(not to mention LOL at the ending - two people with handguns aren't going to do so well robbing the national treasury)
Questions
Have you seen it?
What is your opinion on the "Robin Hood" issues I brought up?
Do you think that Time as Currency could work at all? Would it be possible to do without being inherently anti-poor?
Thanks to Xenphire @ Inkfox for the amazing new sig
“Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments
are we bound to prosperity and ruin.”
― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
robin hood is usually a sucky ideas, no exception here.
How can any system NOT work against the "poor"? It's why we call them "poor".
Yeah, the reviews weren't too far off. I enjoyed it, but i wouldn't call it a great movie.
A waste I think of Cillian Murphy
Sometimes the Robin Hood plot can be done well.
Well it doesn't work well at all in the movie.
But what about real life?
Poor people are poor because they do not have as much MONEY - but if Time was the money - a poor person wouldn't necessarily be poor.
Ignore for a moment the movies contrived rules (you stop aging at 25, and get 1 year on the clock - work from there) That obviously sucks for the poor. Especially since the rich give their children extra time as soon as their clocks started.
Amanda Seyfried: "My dad gave me a DECADE to celebrate my birthday"
for example.
However, if we used Time - then even a person we might consider poor now (because they have little money and/or poor education) might have plenty of TIME because they are very healthy and work two jobs to get more time.
So take the same person who works at taco bell and pizza hut today living paycheck to paycheck - they may be considered "working poor" because they do not make enough to live better.
But a healthy hard working person, who might live till they are say 80 years old - they could be rich
To be honest its complicated - but I think the "poor" would change drastically if Time was money. After all, an old man with a heart condition might be poor, even if he owned a bunch of stuff.
Thanks to Xenphire @ Inkfox for the amazing new sig
“Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments
are we bound to prosperity and ruin.”
― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Also the camera work, script, and plot pacing was not what it could have been. It is kind of sad that this is what they came up with considering the budget and cast.
Sexy Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios
EDH
G Isao
Overuse of time terminology was insane.
Cillian's odd suicidal restriction really couldve been more lenient.
Every time death was awfully silly.
And being able to kill people by arm wrestling is whack.
Good concept + poor execution isn't just a new movie thing. I thought the idea behind total recall was great but the movie is rather overcooked. I mean the original.
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
Wow spoiler tags please. Not everyone has In Time yet, including me!
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
The movie itself, to me, wasn't all that bad. Sometimes you need to shut your over-analytical brains off and enjoy the movie. The points made of Robin Hood were fine, but I don't see this as such a Robin Hood-esque movie. If I were to compare it to anything, I'd compare it to a pseudo foil of Bonnie and Clyde. They're more like romantic robbers than generous thieves.
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