Movie Review Out of Time

Out of Time (2003) 

Directed by Carl Franklin

Written by David Collard

Starring Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain

Release Date October 3rd, 2003 

Published October 2nd, 2003 

In his last leading role, Denzel Washington won an Oscar exploring his dark side in the cop thriller Training Day. It was Denzel's first time on the wrong side of audience sympathies, and he pulled it off magnificently. If only more roles were as well written as that one. If only his latest role, as yet another cop, had been as well written as Training Day, but it's not. It's not a bad film but as it's written it's a convoluted little thriller that toys with the audience one too many times.

Denzel is Matt Whitlock, Chief of Police in tiny Branyon Key, Florida. A town so small that the chief walks the main thoroughfare checking to see if the doors are locked, and it doesn't take long. Chief Whitlock's personal life is nowhere near as simple as his job. He is separated from his wife Alex (Eva Mendes) and is seeing his ex-high school sweetheart Anne (Sanaa Lathan) behind the back of her husband Chris (Dean Cain). Chris and Matt are also enemies and have been for a number of years. Chris is a former quarterback who was cut from his team and now works as a security guard, something Matt can't help but remind him of.

Even more complicated is the fact that though Matt is sleeping with Anne he still has feelings for his wife and wishes they could stay together. The plot kicks into gear when Matt accompanies Anne to a doctor’s appointment where she is told she has cancer. She unfortunately doesn't have the money to pay for treatment, but Matt might. Recently the Banyon Key police department busted a drug dealer and took into evidence some 450 grand. Matt thinks he can take the money to help Anne and while the case is in appeal, he will have plenty of time to replace it.

From there the film moves into its most exciting moments, Anne and Chris supposedly die in a fire in their home and all evidence points to Matt. Worse, his ex-wife is the investigating officer. So, Matt, with the help of his medical examiner buddy Chae (John Billingsley), must solve the case while preventing Alex and his fellow officers from discovering the evidence that implicates him.

This is a very dense narrative that twists and turns and at many points is quite enjoyable. However, it's also rather conventional in the sense that you have seen this setup more than a few times. It's a rather typical noir that doesn't escape the predictable formula. Denzel Washington in a noir mystery is certainly not bad thing, but Out of Time isn't a good enough movie for Denzel. 

All director Carl Franklin can do with the script written by first time screenwriter David Collard, is make it stylish and Franklin succeeds for a good portion of the film. With help from Cinematographer Theo Van De Sande, Franklin takes great advantage of the warm, tropical, color palette of his small-town Florida locale.

The most appealing element of the film is not surprisingly Denzel Washington. The film nearly succeeds on his credibility alone. Sadly, Washington can't quite make this script work on his own. It's just too convoluted, too reliant on coincidence, chance and “only in the movies” type moments. The final confrontation of the film is really disappointing because it is the same climax that every other film of this genre has. It's as if it's required to happen this way.

Out of Time is not a bad film, it's stylish and well-acted but it jerks you around too much to be a successful piece of entertainment. If you’re forgiving of cliches and don't mind being played with in rather obvious ways, then you might like Out of Time. I almost did.