Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried earns praise from 'In Time' director

 In a futuristic world where everyone stops aging at 25—after which they would have to “buy, borrow or steal time in order to stay alive”—every decision counts. As such, New Zealand-born screenwriter/director Andrew Niccol (“Gattaca,” “Lord of War”) picks a cast of superbly nuanced actors to bring his vision of this dystopian world to life in his latest movie “In Time”—decisions that have truly paid off for him.

Justin Timberlake may have had his biggest success in music at a young age, but his slow but sure transition into acting has been marked by small triumphs in roles from the dramatic (“The Social Network”) to the romantic and comic (“Friends With Benefits”).

Playing Will Salas, a struggling "everyman" worker who lives in the poor  "zone," Timberlake needed to tread the fine line between strength and vulnerability in a world where “the rich are immortal, while the poor struggle to stay alive every day.”

Niccol says of his star, “There is a modern everyman quality about Justin. I love his work ethic as well; it is actually very fitting that Justin plays this character. Will has to wake up every day and go to work or die. And I don’t think Justin himself has taken a day off since he was 12 years old. He’s been working since he was a child.”

Timberlake might have the moves on the stage—and the pipes to be a bona fide pop star—but perhaps his more physical turn in this film is something that is still surprising to viewers. But Niccol knows better. “There is no reason why he wouldn’t be successful as an action hero because he seems to be great at anything he turns his hand to,” he stresses, adding, “Which is very annoying for the rest of us!”

Timberlake’s co-star, Amanda Seyfried, has herself had such varied roles in the big screen, from the sweet and hopeful Sophie in “Mamma Mia!” to the heartbroken Savannah in “Dear John,” to the strong-willed Valerie in “Red Riding Hood.” In this movie, she plays the rich, “over-protected” heiress Sylvia, who runs off with Will.

“[Amanda] has often played the victim so it’s great that this time it’s reversed and she is the one with the gun,” Niccol says. “She took to all the action stuff really well.  You can easily see her playing the rich girl, but I think it was fun for her to change it up and also become an action hero.”

In “Red Riding Hood,” director Catherine Hardwicke (“Twilight”) shared an anecdote about Seyfried not liking her co-star, newcomer Shiloh Fernandez. But while they hit it off eventually, Seyfried’s experience in “In Time” with regards to her co-star is different.

“The chemistry between Amanda and Justin jumps off the screen. You can tell they like each other,” notes Niccol.

Meanwhile, because the age limit for the characters is pegged at quarter of a century, it can’t be helped that almost everyone in it looks young and pretty much fantastic. Enter the gorgeous Olivia Wilde ("Cowboys & Aliens").

“There are actors in the movie who are chronologically 100 years old so I had to search for ‘old souls.’ Only certain young actors can play a 75-year-old in a 25-year-old body. Olivia [who is 27] plays a woman of 50, Justin’s mother. I needed someone with a maturity beyond her years for that role. Olivia has that quality,” Niccol shares.

The director also notes that the biggest adjustment for Timberlake and Wilde had been how to relate to each other. “It was fun on that set because normally Olivia and Justin would be paired as romantic leads, but here they are in a mother/son relationship which is quite strange. At one point she is looking into his eyes and it has to be a motherly look rather than a boyfriend/girlfriend look.”

Rounding off Niccol’s praises for his cast, he discusses Cillian Murphy, the “Time Keeper” who pursues the fugitives Will and Sylvia.

“I think Cillian Murphy is one of the finest actors working today,” Niccol says generously. “I didn’t direct Cillian. I just told him where to stand and sometimes he would tell me where he wanted to stand.  He is a fantastic talent and if anyone can pull off being 75 years old, it is he.”

Describing the nuance of Murphy’s character, Niccol notes, “The Time Keeper… keeps the system running; he actually keeps time. He is an interesting villain in some ways because he is really not a villain; he is just a bureaucrat, an authority figure who has allegiance to no one, rich or poor, he just has allegiance to minutes and seconds.”

As for his film, Niccol describes it as “a metaphor for living in the present. We all try to do that but in this world, in ‘In Time,’ every second really does count in a literal way.”        

Count down the days ‘til “In Time” opens in local cinemas nationwide on Oct 28.

By ANNIE S. ALEJO
Manila Bulletin

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