Out Of Time

In this neo-noir thriller, Matt Lee Whitlock (Denzel Washington) is the respected but corrupt chief of police of small-town Banyan Key, Florida, who must solve a vicious double murder before he himself falls under suspicion. The victims are his lover, Anne Merai Harrison (Sanaa Lathan), and her abusive husband, Chris Harrison (Dean Cain). Whitlock connives, bluffs and runs to stay one step ahead of his own police force, his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Detective Alex Dizaz-Whitlock (Eva Mendes), who heads the investigation, and the F.B.I., who come to Banyan Key to retrieve drug money (court evidence) that Whitlock foolishly gave to Harrison. As Alex draws closer to an arrest, Whitlock must find the culprits who framed him. Out of Time is no cinematic masterpiece, but it keeps its audience watching on the edge of its seat. True, the movie takes a long time to get started and the ending is abrupt. When the film does get rolling, however, writer David Collard and director Carl Franklin (who collaborated with Washington on Devil In A Blue Dress) throw enough curve balls at Whitlock to keep us guessing. The film injects humour and sexiness at the right moments and the pace is relentless and charged, though at moments the movie stretches the boundaries of credulity: Whitlock doctoring faxes from the telephone company; the F.B.I. demanding the drug money right after Whitlock gives it away. Star Denzel Washington delivers another assured performance and his charm makes up for the film's structural shortcomings. Like Kevin Coster in 1987's No Way Out (similar character, similar story), Washington is one of the few actors who can play such a cad yet win our sympathy. (MGM)