October 6, 2003 -- “Out of Time” is a Hitchcock-like thriller about a cop being framed for a murder. He is desperately trying to solve the crime before he is arrested and put behind bars. At the same time, he is under the gun if he can't find a pile of money missing from the evidence locker. Time is running out.

Denzel Washington of “Training Day” stars as Matt Lee Whitlock, the police chief of a Florida city near Miami. He is the one being framed and the frame job is tight. A ton of evidence is aimed right at him. Whitlock's soon-to-be ex-wife, Alex (played by Eva Mendes of “Once Upon a Time in Mexico”) is investigating the case, and she is getting very close to finding the secret connection between him and the crime. The only person Whitlock can confide in is his tipsy buddy from the coroner's office Chae (John Billingsly of the “Enterprise” TV series). Whitlock is also in trouble with federal agents because of some money he embezzled from the evidence locker. The feds need the money for another case they are working on. Whitlock has to get the money back into the evidence locker before the feds come to claim it.

The film's setup is pretty slow. It takes a while to get all the pieces of this complicated puzzle in place. Once the drama gets rolling, it is engrossing as Whitlock scrambles to hide evidence linking him to the murder just before the rest of the police discover it. At the same time, he is trying to conduct his own investigation into who is behind the murders and who has the money missing from the evidence locker. Part of this so-called mystery is obvious early in the movie. It is also obvious that if the medical examiner were to examine the dental records of the murder victims, Whitlock would no longer be tied up so tightly to the case. The whole business of correctly identifying the murder victims is very conveniently left out of the plot. It is routine to check dental records on a corpse burned beyond recognition in an arson-caused fire in order to make a positive identification.

Aside from that and another nagging detail or two in the story, it is a pretty good thriller. Washington, who won an academy award for best actor last year, is very good in the lead role, but Billingsly really steals the show as the clownish, but smart sidekick. Mendes is also good as Whitlock's separated wife. She doesn't want to believe her husband is a murderer, despite the evidence stacking up against him. She does a good job of showing those conflicting emotions. Former Superman Dean Cain of “Rat Race” is effective as Chris, one of the bad guys. Sanaa Lathan of “Love and Basketball”), plays Chris' wife, Anne Harrison. Washington, however, overpowers the movie's trio of weak villains. Stronger villains are needed to match up against an actor of the calibre of Washington.

The movie looks good with high production values, good stunt work, good sets and nice use of location cinematography (mostly in Miami) by Theo van de Sande (“High Crimes”). The film establishes a nice sense of place. Even though it is now fall, this seems more like a summer movie. It is entertaining enough if you don't get picky about the details. This film rates a C+.

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Copyright © 2003 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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