MOVIE REVIEW

Out of Time  (2003)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Sanaa Lathan, Eva Mendes, Dean Cain
Director: Carl Franklin

Rating: PG-13

Studio: MGM

Release Date: 10.03.03

Review Posted: 10.03.03

Spoilers: None

By Sara M. Fetters

Denzel Out of Luck in Bland "Time"

It must be admitted up front that all talk about Denzel Washington being one of the great American actors of our time is not a bunch over over-inflated hooey. From Oscar-winning performances in “Glory” and “Training Day,” to iconic work in “Malcolm X” and “Cry Freedom,” to soul searing turns in “He Got Game” and “Courage Under Fire,” to whimsically jazzy roles in “Mississippi Masala” and “Devil in a Blue Dress,” Washington’s breadth and body of work is truly staggering.

Be that as it may, the actor hasn’t exactly shown a propensity to pick the best of what’s out there, either. From the genuinely awful like “Virtuosity” and “Heart Condition” to the ponderously didactic like “John Q” and “Remember the Titans,” it must nevertheless be taken as a given Denzel alone does not equate any film to overall greatness.

Such is the case with the standard noir thriller “Out of Time.” A sun-bleached steamier set to a Latin-y Florida rhythm, the movie re-teams Washington with “Devil in a Blue Dress” director Carl Franklin. But where before the duo were able to set the screen ablaze with sexy passion and old-fashioned double-dealing noir intrigue, this time they’re stuck playing with a paint-by-numbers water color set. Nothing in this thriller rises to anything fresh or exciting. It is only the assured skill of both that keeps anything resembling interest brewing, the picture displaying a lazy, monotonous forward momentum that borders on narcoleptic.

Washington plays Matt Lee Whitlock, police chief of small Florida town Banyan Key. The charming, self-effacing Whitlock is well liked by his staff and the town’s residents, especially after he brings them a small amount of notoriety with his deft handling of a major drug bust. But even with almost half-a-million dollars sitting in his safe and the thanks of the Miami DEA, not everything is sunny in Whitlock’s tropical paradise. His wife Alex (Eva Mendes, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico”) has left him to pursue her job as a Miami detective, while at the same time the chief has also entered into a torrid affair with former childhood sweetheart Anne (Sanaa Lathan, “Brown Sugar”), the wife of abusive former pro football player Chris Harrison (Dean Cain, TV’s “Lois & Clark”), and it’s keeping him entirely too much on edge.

Things take a turn for the worse when Anne is diagnosed with terminal cancer, the doctor claiming she has only six months to live. Her only hope is some experimental procedures overseas, but they’re so prohibitively expensive there’s little reason to assume anything close to the best. Finally, after much soul searching, Matt gives Anne the money from the drug bust, knowing full well he’s got at least six months to a year to find more to replace it before the DEA comes calling.

Big mistake, for soon Anne’s house is a fiery inferno with two scorched bodies dead inside, and all the clues to its setting point to the police chief himself. With ex-wife Alex and her team of subordinates down from Miami on the case, it’s only a matter of time before she links Matt and Anne together as lovers. Worse, the DEA has a lead on a new case and needs the drug-bust money to verify serial numbers. Racing against the clock, the DEA and the woman he still loves, Whitlock must solve the case fast and find out where Anne and Chris escaped with the money; if not to clear his name than only to find out why he was used.

Franklin, no stranger to police thrillers what with near-classics like “One False Move,” directs in assured workmanlike fashion. Everything is put together and shot very well (veteran cinematographer Theo van de Sande’s camerawork is simply stunning), the movie filled with overabundant energy and sunshine that fits the tropical Florida locale. Former “Family Guy” writer Dave Collard’s script hits all the noir clichés in the book, never once alluding to any of the depth of feeling or colorful candor inherent in the best of the genre – a best that includes Franklin and Washington’s earlier collaboration. Yet, everything about “Out of Time” is strictly routine, Franklin not doing anything to hide the fact.

Unlike “Devil in a Blue Dress,” the talented Washington doesn’t seem to be having half the fun playing this role as he did the Marlowe-like “Easy” Rawlins. Whitlock is a standard rube, an idiot waiting to be plundered by a lascivious black widow. Sure, there are few actors working today as deeply sexy as Washington, and his scenes with Lathan have a real sweaty passion to them, but sex appeal alone doesn’t make a character enduring. Still, there are moments when the actor comes to vivid, vibrant life, mostly when he’s sharing the film with veteran character actor John Billingsley (“White Oleander”), the two displaying a wonderful off-the-cuff chemistry.

The rest of the cast is fine, if unspectacular. Only Cain stands out in the slightest, really, displaying a machismo swagger I haven’t seen him flaunt before. It would be interesting to see if his performance here can save him from a career continuing to make bad, straight-to-video thrillers like “Dragon Fighter” and “Dark Descent,” and into a vocation of decent character parts in some bigger movies. Probably not, but he’s good enough I can at least hope.

With this movie, Denzel entered the 20-million dollar club as an actor, and in the end it shows. Everything about “Out of Time” is played close to the vest. There is no risk, no energy, nothing we haven’t seen before. It’s a safe, well-constructed thriller that should appease most undiscriminating viewers out there. But for those wanting a bit more, however, the ability to grant time well spent is something this movie is completely out of.

Rating: êê  (out of 4)

TOP