Thu 9 Sep 2021
OUT OF TIME. MGM, 2003. Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain, John Billingsley. Director: Carl Franklin.
Of all the movies that Denzel Washington has appeared in up to now, at least one of them must have been a time travel story, or so you’d think. In any case, though, based on the title, you might also think that this is one of them. But if you did, as I did when I came across this one just as it was leaving Showtime, you’d have been wrong.
What it is instead is a solidly constructed crime film, with Denzel Washington as Matt Whitlock,the chief of police in a small town in Florida, a town so small that almost nothing happens for him to do, a situation which he is quite willing to take advantage of, until, of course, it does. Something does most definitely happen, that is, in a way that is almost more amusing than it should be, given the scrape he finds himself in.
His marriage to Eva Mendez, playing the county’s chief homicide detective, is heading for to the divorce courts, Matt has been sleeping with a long time lady friend who unfortunately has a jealous husband. Not the brightest of maneuvers, but hey, things like that happen. This particular potential pitfall is combined with nearly a half million dollars of drug money stored in an evidence locker in his office, and when the match goes off, the bodies of Matt’s erstwhile girl friend and her husband are discovered in their home, destroyed in flames.
And who might the number one suspect be? You guessed it. Without having the advantage of his position as the chief of police and thus advance notices of the turns his wife’s investigation into the murders take, he’d be locked up in jail in thirty minutes flat. Watching him scoot just ahead of the tide coming in is what makes this fast-moving movie all the more enjoyable to follow along with, just to see what happens next.
September 9th, 2021 at 12:20 pm
Director Carl Franklin is super reliable with this type of material, as can be seen in One False Move and Devil in a Blue Dress. He also did several episodes of Mindhunter.
September 9th, 2021 at 3:44 pm
Yes, DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS is another great movie. ONE FALSE MOVE is extremely good, too. Anyone who hasn’t seen either is missing something.
September 9th, 2021 at 12:49 pm
You’re a few years off, Steve. Denzel’s time travel movie is DEJA VU (2006).
September 9th, 2021 at 3:38 pm
Thanks, Jeff, that’s the one. But what difference does three years make if you have a time machine?
September 9th, 2021 at 2:29 pm
this if the movie I thought you had reviewed last week of his, he stays about 1/10 of a step ahead of disaster throughout the whole movie.
September 9th, 2021 at 3:37 pm
Yes, after reading your earlier comment I just happened to see that this movie was leaving the Showtime Channel. I had two days to watch it, so I did. I love coincidences like this!
September 9th, 2021 at 7:11 pm
Good film, fun and nice and twisty. Washington always handles playing just this side of sleazy well for a leading man as good looking as he is. That ability to go against the hero type is always the sign of a superior actor.