Andrew Niccol has made every Nickel of his hollywood pay in conceiving high-concept science fiction ideas that either are home-runs or mediocre at best. His double-bill breakout with both The Truman Show and Gattaca one year apart may be one of the most astounding debuts ever from a first time screenwriter, especially one specializing in brainy sic-fi. And while the rest of his filmography becomes hit or miss since then, one thing that always remains consistently golden about Andrew Niccol films is their premises. The Premise: Time is money. Literally. After age 25 (or whatever age Hollywood thinks people stop looking attractive at), you stop aging, and a biological clock of sorts kicks in, and the time you have left becomes currency. This concept exists more as a broad metaphor for the dangers of class divides in a capitalist society than an actual portrayal of how the future could turn out. But as far as metaphors go, the rich being literally immortal while the poor live day-to-day is as ingeniously twisted as they come. Though the execution proves a little routine, In Time's concept continues to entice even when you leave the theater. How good is this premise? Like all of his original films, this premise is smart enough to convince me Andrew Niccol was taken hostage while allegedly writing and directing The Host.
Self-evidently a man who writes for the Internet, Robert also writes films, plays, teleplays, and short stories when he's not working on a movie set somewhere. He lives somewhere behind the Hollywood sign.
