Out of Time Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)October 14th, 2003
"Out of Time"
Mathias Lee Whitlock (Denzel Washington) is the chief of police of Banyan Key, FL, a sleepy little hamlet where the local excitement, recently, was a big time drug bust that included a cool $485000 in cash, now secured in the safe at the chief's station. When Matt learns that his girlfriend, a married woman, has an all but incurable cancer, he decides that the drug money can go to better use to get her the only treatment that can possibly save her life. But, his kind action opens a can of worms that the chief must control, or else, before he runs "Out of Time."
Matt thinks that, what with the way the wheels of justice turn so slowly, he can "borrow" the 485 grand and not have to worry about it for quite a while. At least, that's the plan. Then, two things happen: Ann, who has survived an abusive marriage with her husband Chris (Dean Cain), disappears with the cash; and, Agent Stark (Terry Laughlin) of the DEA informs Chief Whitlock that the government is ready to take the drug loot to prosecute an even bigger case. To complicate matters, Mathias, out of uniform, stops by Ann's now-deserted house that night and is seen by a curious neighbor. He then learns, the next morning, the house went up in flames - leaving the charred corpses of two people. Suddenly, the top policeman in town is a suspect to murder and Mat has to do some fast thinking really quick if he wants to keep from losing everything, especially his freedom.
Chief Whitlock has yet another problem when he learns that his former wife and colleague, Alex Diaz Whitlock (Eva Mendez), is now a homicide detective assigned to head the case of the double murders. He not only has to find Ann and the money before the Feds find out the truth and arrest him for stealing evidence, he has to stay ahead of the murder investigation led by the one person who knows him best. It's a cat-and-mouse game that could end with Mat doing a whole lot of time in prison.
Helmer Carl Franklin has worked with Denzel Washington before ("Devil in the Blue Dress") and directs his star in a thriller that is mostly entertaining despite numerous holes in the busy plot by scripter Dave Collard. Things start out with the chief getting called out, late one night, to investigate a break in at the home of Ann Harrison (Sanaa Lathan), a very pretty and sexy young housewife. As she describes the crime and the perpetrator, you realize that there is more going on here (wink, wink) than a crime scene and their relationship is much more personal than professional. It's a cliched opening but the players are attractive and it is nicely shot (as is the whole film) by Theo Van de Sande.
As the plot thickens, a bit obviously but the energy and variety of the twists and turns help to temper this, things rev up as circumstances start to get out of the chief's control. He has to juggle his own, secret investigation of where the heck the money and Ann are. He has to keep the arrogant and impatient Agent Stark and the Feds at bay. And, he has to hold off being implicated in murder by his earnest, resourceful detective wife. Franklin keeps this all very fast paced and intricately woven despite a stitch being dropped here and there.
The numerous story inconsistencies but are mostly the nit-picky kind, like how Alex, who we learn just got the job of detective, is suddenly the head of a big-deal murder investigation in charge of some unknown number of her "boys," as she calls them. Also, Mat and Ann are seen carrying on a pretty public affair even though her husband, Chris, is a violent loose cannon with a rep for abusing his wife for the tiniest infraction.
There is a warm sultriness to the production that befits the Florida Keys locale. Van de Sande's camera catches the humid warmth of the town on Banyan Key using the softness of the sunshine to give the film an almost sepia tone at times. Night shoots have a crisp clarity that keeps everything sharply in focus.
Denzel Washington does a solid job as a man who is a victim of circumstance, even though he lit the fuse of the explosives that threatens to engulf him. The actor does a good intelligent everyman caught in a web of his own making who must call upon all of his resources to make things right. Sanaa Lathan, who made such a splash in her debut film, "Love and Basketball," has matured into a striking looking young lady and lends the right vulnerability to her character, Ann. Eva Mendez isn't quite believable as the gung ho homicide detective - she seems like she is reading her lines when she barks out orders to her "boys" - but is definitely an asset with her good looks and gorgeous figure. Dean Cain gives his Chris the right note of sinister sleaziness. Stealing the show is John Billingsley as Chae, the Banyan Key coroner and loyal friend to Mathias. The actor is used as the comic relief for what could have been an extremely dour film noire and Billingsley is a riot in the role of the scheming, chain-smoking buddy.
"Out of Time," with a more experience scripter to fix the implausible bits and pieces and plug up the plot holes, could have been a top-notch thriller. Still, it is a well-made, well-acted and entertaining suspense story that works more often than not. I give it a B-.
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