Out of Time *** (2003, Denzel Washington, Sanaa Lathan, Eva Mendes, Dean Cain) – Classic Movie Review 1955

Director Carl Franklin’s 2003 crime mystery thriller Out of Time reunites him with his Devil in a Blue Dress star, Denzel Washington, who this time plays Matt Whitlock, a Florida small-town police chief suspected of double murder. He is the sole beneficiary of the life insurance of the married woman victim (Sanaa Lathan) – and his own ex-wife (Eva Mendes) is the cop in charge of the case.

Once again Washington is on fine form in this entertaining if dodgily written neo noir-style thriller. Alas, with people doing and saying things they only do and say in the movies, David Collard’s screenplay stretches belief beyond the limit.

Washington proves too classy an act for this lowly kind of pulp fiction, faring best in posh movies. But the movie is glossy and fun, slickly handled by Franklin, as well as very suspenseful in places, and the Florida locations pay off nicely. Lathan and Dean Cain (as her nasty cop husband) have rotten, clichéd parts and deserve better. Washington and Mendes come off much better.

Out of Time also features John Billingsley, Robert Baker, Alex Carter, Antoni Corone, Terry Loughlin, Nora Dunn, James Murtaugh, Peggy Sheffield and Evelyn Brooks in the cast.

It is thought to be an unofficial loose reworking of the 1987 No Way Out, with similar plotlines and characters.

Out of Time is directed by Carl Franklin, runs 105 minutes or 114 minutes, is made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Original Film and Monarch Pictures, is released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (2003) (US) and Momentum Pictures (2003) (UK), is written by David Collard, is shot by Theo van de Sande, is produced by Neal H Moritz and Stokely Chaffin, is scored by Graeme Revell and designed by Paul Peters.

It was costly to make, at $50,000,000, partly because Washington was paid $20 million, and took only $41,088,845 in the US along with $55,495,563 worldwide.

Washington and Mendes previously worked together on Training Day (2001), where Denzel also played a cop.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1955

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