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a very interesting premise from a fairly promising director
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/19250/the-notable-films-of-2011-part-ten
Now
Opens: October 28th 2011
Cast: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, Matthew Bomer
Director: Andrew Niccol
Summary: In a future where aging has stopped and people must pay to stay alive, a man is accused of murder when he inherits a fortune and he is forced to go on the run with a beautiful hostage in tow.
Analysis: After penning "The Truman Show" and delivering an astonishing first effort with the high-concept sci-fi parable "Gattaca" in 1997, New Zealand-born Andrew Niccol hasn't done as well with his interesting but flawed follow-up efforts "S1m0ne" and "Lord of War". Six years after that Nic Cage feature, Niccol returns to near future territory with this project (originally titled "I'm.mortal") that avoids the genetic discrimination issues he already covered in "Gattaca", and doesn't lift too much from "Logan's Run" like so many other sci-fi films that explore ageing seem to.
Here the near future is a time when the ageing gene switches off at age 25. To avoid over population, you're genetically-engineered to live only one more year unless you can afford extensions. As a result, time becomes the ultimate currency with the rich essentially young and immortal while the poor and middle class work hard, borrow or steal time to keep on living. Set against this is a young man (Timberlake) who inherits a fortune in time, is wrongly accused of murder, and is forced to go on the run with a hostage (Seyfried).
The chase thriller aspect sounds conventional admittedly, what's interesting here is exploring the issue of time as a currency. How that works on the day to day, how factors of youth and beauty work in a culture where no-one grows old, etc. In terms of casting, there understandably isn't much in the way of quality veteran actors. Yet there are some strong young talents with the interesting twist being that quite a few of them are playing parents of other characters despite all the actors being around the same age. Along with the five mentioned above in the cast list there's also Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Galecki, Vincent Kartheiser, Rachel Roberts and Toby Hemingway.
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/19250/the-notable-films-of-2011-part-ten
