The film is full of tricks that keep the surprises coming, against an evocative Gulf Coast backdrop.
By STEVE PERSALL
Published October 2, 2003
[Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]
Eva Mendes and Denzel Washington pause for a moment in the fast-moving thriller, Out of Time.
The late, legendary director Howard Hawks declared that a good movie has three good scenes and no bad ones. Hawks would have loved Carl Franklin's Out of Time, a mystery thriller constantly painting itself into corners then nimbly leaping free with a few minutes of aggressively convincing filmmaking.
Out of Time stars Denzel Washington - an actor who makes us believe anything - as Matt Whitlock, police chief in the fictional Florida town Banyan Key (with Boca Grande and Cortez providing great locales). Franklin's first good scene suggests Matt isn't a straight-arrow cop, swigging beer on duty and snuggling a lover named Anne Harrison (Sanaa Lathan) under the pretense of investigating a burglary.
Pay attention, because in short order we'll learn that Matt and Anne are unhappily married to other people: Alex Diaz-Whitlock (Eva Mendes) is a Miami detective and Chris Harrison (Dean Cain) is a former pro football player working as a security guard. The nonchalant way these backgrounds come to light is a compliment for screenwriter David Collard, who has plenty of such tricks up his sleeve.
Without giving too much away, Matt puts his integrity on the line to help Anne with a medical condition, stealing a confiscated fortune of drug bust evidence to pay her medical bills. Nobody will miss the money since the arresting agency holds such evidence until all appeals have expired, which could take years. That is, unless the money can assist a federal case, which it does, sending Matt scrambling to recover the loot before anyone knows it's missing.
That's not all. Matt's life is complicated by an arson apparently resulting in a double murder, bringing his wife (who's filing for divorce) onto the case. Circumstances that at first seemed like simple jealousy and protectiveness soon make Matt the chief suspect. We know it, he knows it, but nobody else does yet. Matt must stay several steps ahead of an investigation he must appear to be leading, resulting in the next great scene in Out of Time.
At one point, a victim's telephone records are requested and Matt's number is all over them. I've seen heroes juggle cell phones, fax machines and computers in movies but never all three at once and certainly not with the tense editing style Carole Kravetz provides, giving us each detail rapidly but indelibly. Collard is even wise enough to leave a loophole that will come back to haunt Matt. Well, almost, since this guy thinks fast enough to evade it later.
The third great scene in Out of Time is by definition a cliche. Matt tracks down a suspect, cheats his way into a hotel room, engages the suspect in a life and death struggle concerning the most overused means of movie death, the plunge from a high place. So far, so normal. But no sooner does Matt survive that threat than Alex's investigation and the feds close in, kicking off a staircase foot chase full of close calls and falsehoods. Matt is panting and the audience holds its breath, applauding when we're finally allowed to exhale again.
There's plenty left to appreciate about Franklin's film. Washington makes a great Hitchcockian hero, the man who knows too much yet not enough to feel safe. Mendes cuts a striking female authority figure, a dead ringer for Cindy Crawford with tons more talent, taking no guff and refusing to skate on her appearance. Lathan is a sexy foil and Cain makes his lout slightly more sympathetic than the way such abusers typically are portrayed. Count his faceoff with Washington as the movie's fourth great scene.
Out of Time looks gorgeous, moves like clockwork and, if there are major plot holes, covers them quickly with another twist. This movie doesn't play us cheap as so many thrillers do. It's sexy, suspenseful, funny - John Billingsley's sidekick role is hilariously helpful - and above all it stays within the realm of possibility, yet not so much that it feels familiar.
Sure, Matt is assisted by a few too many strokes of fate - people go to lunch or a bridge gets closed at just the right times - but the brisk way Franklin adds these breaks is in tune with the rest of the movie's propulsion. There are lessons here for any filmmaker, the differences between making viewers scratch their heads in confusion or stroke their chins in admiration.
Out of Time
Grade: A-
Director: Carl Franklin
Cast: Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain, John Billingsley
Screenplay: David Collard
Rating: PG-13; sexual situations, violence, profanity
