Thriller

Crime

Drama

Out of Time

Monarch Pictures

Original Film

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

United States of America

English

Denzel Washington

Eva Mendes

Sanaa Lathan

John Billingsley

Dean Cain

Alex Carter

Antoni Corone

Robert Baker

Ron Madoff

Terry Loughlin

Nora Dunn

Jesse Beaton

Peggy Sheffield

Evelyn Brooks

Arian Ash

Elena Maria Garcia

Suzanne Grant

Dottie Healy

Tom Hillmann

Eric Hissom

James Murtaugh

Parris Buckner

Mike Pniewski

Veryl Jones

Tim Ware

Ed Amatrudo

Neil Brown Jr.

David J. Negron Sr.

O.L. Duke

Sharlene Garcia

Steve Raulerson

Manny Casimir

Angelo Fierro

WB Brown II

Deborah Smith Ford

Catfish Jean

Rick Michaels

Natalie McNeil

Gustavo Pérez

Al Quinn

Mario Xavier

Carl Franklin

David Collard

Neal H. Moritz

Theo van de Sande

Carole Kravetz Aykanian

Mali Finn

Gary Kosko

Kathryn Peters

Graeme Revell

Stokely Chaffin

Sharen Davis

Paul Peters

Jeremy J. Gordon

Will Blount

Chick Bernhard

Jon Berg

Alex Gartner

Dan Genetti

Kevin Reidy

Damien Saccani

Stephen Traxler

Gina White

Sandra Cole

Nicola Goode

Chris Haarhoff

Darren Moorman

Marlis Pujol

Walter Anderson

Greg Hedgepath

Dan Hegeman

Tom Ozanich

Alex Gibson

Ashley Revell

Larry M. Cherry

Gianna Sparacino

Carl Fullerton

Elizabeth Lambert

Rod Ortega

Bob Brown

Richard Fojo

Tim Landry

Alexa Marino

Douglas Womack

Cliff Carothers

Stephen P. Durante

Geoffrey S. Grimsman

Holly Ritchie

Baird Steptoe

Chris Ranung

Gavin Roberson

Jeff Shewbert

Roger Sherman

Saalahudeen Lunsford Muhammed

Alain Iglesias

Kevin Harris

Melvin A. Turner

Larry Crenshaw

Deborah Simmrin

Kenton Hulme

Barry K. Thomas

Mato

Stephanie Johnson

William Hutchinson

James M. Reeves

David Rapaport

Sam Tedesco

Doug Shamburger

Tim Simonec

Gary Gegan

Dennis Hoffman

Debbi Nikkel

Markus Mentzer

Michael A. Morongell

Don Abbatiello

Tom Bahr

Erik Proveaux

Jim Pescrille

John Bires

Martin Schloemer

Monica Castro

Jeff Snyder

Susan Bradley

Jerry Bertolami

Robert Gray

Jonathan Dugas

Riki Lin Sabusawa

Elaine L. Offers

Al Guthery

Melanie Grefé

Nina Jack

Gary Burritt

Jono Kouzouyan

Debby Freeman

Aaron B. Koontz

Chris Hogenson

Kimberly Mullen

Would you have given it to me if I slept with you?

Out of Time is directed by Carl Franklin and written by David Collard. It stars Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain and John Billingsley. Music is by Graeme Revell and cinematography by Theo Van de Sande.

Matthias Whitlock (Washington) is chief of police in little Banyan Key, Florida. Respected for his work and basically honest in the line of duty. Away from work, however, his marriage to Alex (Mendes) has failed, he's having an affair with an abused wife and he likes a little drink on duty. So when his lover Anne Harrison (Lathan) springs on him the shocking news that she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, it naturally shakes his world. But this news is merely the start of something bigger, for pretty soon Matt will be in the unusual situation of having to stay one step of his own kind or face dire consequences.

It's a film proudly wearing a badge of homage to film noir of the 40s. In fact it very much plays out as a contemporary riff on John Farrow's excellent Ray Milland starrer of 1948, The Big Clock. But that's fine, especially when you have some knowing craft in front and behind the camera in the shape of Franklin (Devil in a Blue Dress) and Washington (take your pick here really!). Yet as great as Franklin and Washington's work is, they all owe a debt to Collard's screenplay. Inventive in how it plays out as a plot, with it's many tight situations laid down for Washington's duped law enforcer to try and get out of, the screenplay has a knack for deft humour, often sly, which is something that even some of the hardest of noirs from the golden era are tinted with. The secret is being able to blend the humour with quality moments of suspense, and this picture manages to do that with some interest.

Film also benefits greatly from the tight atmosphere created by photographer de Sande. Sweaty Florida in daylight doesn't cry out as being a good starting point for an offshoot of film noir (real Florida locations were thankfully used), but the scenic beauty is never realised during the drama sequences, colours are toned down, even for a stunning red sky, and this perfectly becomes at one with a near frantic Washington as the tricksters of Banyan Key start to close in on him. It's nice too see, also, interracial couples forming the core of the story, while the dominance of sexuality is firmly given a shrewd work over by director and writer. There's good thought gone in to making this, enough to steer it away from charges of just being a faux neo-noir production.

Problems? Yes, a few. Inevitability of outcome is hard to shake off whilst viewing it, especially for those well versed in the genre (sub-genre). Clichés and contrivances are stacked up like a pile of cop thriller 101 books, and Franklin goes smug (daft) by dropping in a couple of slow frame sequences that the film clearly didn't need. While the big showdown in the finale lacks a gut punch. But this is a good viewing, sexy at times and always eye catching, it also pleasingly chooses perky dialogue over action to make its dramatic point. The cast around Washington enhance the quality: Lathan in the tricky role shows a number of layered gears, Cain is imposing as a bully boy husband (where did this Cain go?) and Billingsley almost sneaks in and steals the movie as the loyal and stoic comedy side-kick.

So pesky flaws aside, this is a good recommendation as a night in movie for those with a kink for contemporary neo-noir. 7/10

Best Movies

Out of Time

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Denzel Washington

Eva Mendes

Sanaa Lathan

John Billingsley

Dean Cain

Alex Carter

Antoni Corone

Robert Baker

Ron Madoff

Terry Loughlin

Box office

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