It’s about the “haves” and “have-nots” in a future world where time is – literally – money. Everything is bought and sold in units of time: minutes, hours, days, months, years. So a cup of Joe might cost ya four minutes… a nice car could set you back a few years… and there’s a “99 seconds only” store on the corner. Get it?

Oh, here’s the big catch: Everyone is genetically engineered to stop aging at 25. Then a clock embedded in their forearm starts ticking down. If it zeroes out, they drop dead. So folks need to make more “time” to survive.

Justin Timberlake stars as Will Salas, an inherently good guy who lives “day to day” in the equivalent of a futuristic ghetto. When he suddenly comes into a whole lot of time, he also becomes a wanted fugitive. Though on the run, Will is determined to challenge a system that basically decrees, “For a few to be immortal, many must die”. In other words, the “one percent” is golden. The other 99 have a rough go of it. Sound familiar?

Timberlake rocks this role, proving he can do much more than romantic comedy, SNL skits, singing and dancing (all of which he does remarkably well – it’s really not fair). He is at once sympathetic, empathetic, endearing, mysterious, serious, cocky, cute and charming – even when he’s taking a rich, rebellious and beautiful young woman (Amanda Seyfried) hostage at gunpoint.

Click here to watch the official trailer

It’s a little bizarre to watch a movie where everybody looks approximately the same age regardless of their relationship to one another (Olivia Wilde plays Timberlake’s mother. How creepy is that?). But you get used to it. The movie has some flaws. But overall, it’s a nice mix of drama, humor, action and eye candy, and it manages to tackle some heavy issues without being too heavy-handed. So for a PG-13 sci-fi twist on our own twisted reality, consider “Occupying Theaters” for In Time. For 110 minutes. Or 10 bucks.

Letters to Juliet

The movie tells the story of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a fact-checker and writer wannabe for a New York magazine who heads to Verona, Italy for a “pre-honeymoon” with her restaurateur fiancé, Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal). While Victor is preoccupied with foodie stuff (this is Italy, after-all), Sophie befriends – and joins- a group of women volunteers who answer letters seeking romantic advice from Juliet at the very place where she supposedly met her Romeo.

Sophie finds, and responds to, a letter that was written to Juliet 50 years earlier by a woman named Claire (played with marvelous charm by veteran British actress Vanessa Redgrave). The European mail system must be magically fast, because next thing you know, Claire and her cynical and protective grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) are at Sophie’s doorstep and the trio embark on a road-trip across Tuscany in search of Claire’s long-lost first love, Lorenzo.

The movie is a solid romantic comedy/drama that occasionally drifts into cheesiness but never takes itself too seriously. Amanda Seyfried must be the new Meg Ryan because she seems to pop up in more than her share of romcom and romdrams these days, including the fairly recent Dear John (What’s with this chick and letters?). Christopher Egan as Charlie reminds me of a young Simon Baker, and that’s a good thing. In fact, most all the characters are cute and sweet, much like the movie itself. Letters to Juliet is a nice, good-natured, romantic flick that should be paired with a good Italian meal, and wine.

Dear John

Dear John is the latest in a slew of Nicholas Sparks novels to be turned into a big screen romantic drama (The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Nights in Rodanthe, Message in a Bottle) and they all share a similar vibe. So if you know you like his novels and their movie incarnations, you’ll like Dear John to some degree. It is a total chick flick.

Dear John tells the story of John Tyree (Channing Tatum), a cute young soldier home on leave from the Army and Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), a pretty, idealistic college student in town for spring break. They meet on a South Carolina beach, spend two glorious weeks together, and fall madly in love. But then (of course), he’s got to get back to Army stuff overseas, and she has to get back to school. They vow to write to each other constantly while apart. And John promises to hang up his Army boots when his tour is up in a year. But then 9/11 happens – and all bets are off. John re-enlists, and after a while (and many letters), Savannah moves on with her life – with another guy. It’s not quite as predictable as it sounds. There are a few interesting surprises, as anyone who’s read the book is probably well aware.

I’m actually tempted to read the book to fill in the (several) gaps in the movie’s character and story development – and to see if the endings match. But I won’t feel the need to see the movie again. It makes for a fine gal pal outing, matinee, or date movie. But keep your expectations low. Or just wait for the next Nicholas Sparks book-turned-movie due out in March – The Last Song with Miley Cyrus. “Hannah Montana” in a romantic drama! The Disney Channel generation will eat it up. And I’m still a sucker for romantic dramas, so I won’t be able to stop myself from checking it out. Question is, do I bother reading the book first?