Out of Time Starring Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes Directed by Carl Franklin Rated PG-13 for sexual content, violence, and some language out of Stars, Movie Grade: B-

Theatrical Release: October 3, 2003
Running time: 105 minutes

by Kevin Lang

In a television interview over two years ago, I remember Denzel Washington saying that he was getting tired of playing straight edged characters and doing movies based on true stories. Since then, he did direct and star in the critically acclaimed film "Antwone Fisher" based on the real-life story of a troubled young Navy seaman. Oh, and we might want to note that he also took home an academy award for his anything but straight edged character in the film "Training Day." In his most recent film, "Out of Time," Denzel Washington played a flawed chief of police, who was separated from his wife, drank a little on the job, and fooled around with a local married woman, Anne Merai Harrison, played by Sanaa Lathan ("Love and Basketball," 2002). "Out of Time" wasn't a bad film. However, it was a film that I felt that I've seen many times before, and once again it failed to bring anything fresh to the screen, but it did provide some suspense and it managed to hold my interest throughout.

The story revolved around Matt Whitlock, the local police chief of a small town in Banyan Key, Florida. The atmosphere reminded me a little of 1995's "Devil in a Blue Dress" in which Washington played a detective. Here, Washington's character, who dons topical shirts and drives a Ford F-150 police truck attempted to help his high school sweetheart, Anne, who told him that she was dying of cancer. He offered her over 400,000 dollars in evidence money in order to pay for her treatments, putting himself in a compromising position, and when he later couldn't get in touch with her, he began to suspect that he may have been conned.

Unaware of Matt's predicament was his wife, Alex-Diaz Whitlock (Eva Mendes), who worked as a homicide detective. The two had separated a few months earlier. Alex became involved after two charred bodies turned up after a house fire at Anne's home, where her and her husband Scott (Dean Cain) lived. Eva Mendes was good as the inquiring but concerned wife, having to balance her lingering feelings for Matt with her duty as a detective.

In the end, "Out of Time" reminded me of other recent films such as "Don't Say a Word," where the story is all too familiar, but yet satisfying nonetheless. Like many other similar movies, "Out of Time" was the type of film that would be out of my mind a day or so after seeing it, except for typing this review. This doesn't mean it was a bad movie. In fact, I liked Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, and the rest of the cast. Even the story had its moments, especially the suspense of watching Matt have to stay one step ahead of the detectives, who were always on the verge of discovering his involvement. Perhaps I just wanted the story to give me something to remember it by, instead of letting itself get lost in the crowd of its genre.

"Out of Time" Review written October 3, 2003, CTF.

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