By Tanya Batson-Savage, Staff Reporter
IN LIGHT of Denzel Washington's filmography, Out of Time is very light stuff. But it is fun stuff. Like a walk on a Sunday afternoon, you don't do it for the exercise. You do it because it makes you feel good.
In Out of Time Washington is a police officer... again! This time around he plays Chief of Police, Matt Lee Whitlock, head of the police department in the very small Banyan Key, Florida.
Whittock is a man who, after confidently sitting on cloud nine for some time, has just realised that sitting on a cloud is physically impossible. Like with Wyle E. Coyote, this knowledge has come a moment before he starts hurling towards the ground. His job therefore is to 'sketch in a parachute and open it before he hits the ground and his life goes splat'.
EVEN KEEL
Out of Time moves off on a nice even keel. The characters interact well and the relationship drama keeps it interesting, even though it is evident that nothing much is happening. Time is taken to give quite a build-up to what is about to happen. Just when you are about to go, 'Okay but what's your point', the gear shifts and the movie starts speeding along.
Make no mistake, however, the mystery aspect of this movie is not its biggest seller, indeed it is its greatest drawback. Out of Time hardly makes a decent effort at being a mystery. There is absolutely no shock value, not if you have ever watched this type of movie before.
The script is taken directly from
the pages of a beginner's guide to murder mysteries. A man is accused of murder, he desperately tries to find evidence to defend himself, when all evidence points to him and just before the crucial moment... well, you know how it is going to end. The best it has to offer, is for you to guess exactly when Whitlock is going to get caught. The Fugitive was certainly a much better rendition of this tale.
Where Out of Time succeeds is in the dialogue, especially between Washington's Whitlock and John Billingsley's Chae. Chae is a great oddball, chain-smoking character, seems to live by the motto, 'A beer in the hand is worth two in the fridge'. Billingsby is a wonderful addition to the cast, giving one of the strongest performances in the flick.
GREAT PERFORMANCE
The other great performance, of course, came from Washington. As far as his dramatic, truly memorable role goes, Matt Whitlock does not even make it out of the gate. This lightweight among Washington roles is a very ordinary guy, with a lot less to him than his role in the movie John Q. Nonetheless, as one would expect from him, Washington takes you for a good ride, easily making you care about this character. With a weaker performance, Whitlock could have easily paled, especially, as they stretched the believability of his attempts to escape being captured. Fortunately, he is in the hands of a master.
The two women of the film, Sanaa Lathan (Ann Merai Harrison) and Eva Mendes (Alex Diaz Whitlock) both give decent performances. Lathan plays Matt Whitlock's love interest, while Mendes is his almost ex-wife. Neither will be making her career through this movie.
Although Dean Cain, gets top billing, his role was hit by kryptonite, as he neither gives an overly impressive performance, nor plays a major role in the flick.
So in keeping with the saying that 'Man shall not live by great drama alone' Out of Time is a nice little romp. Mired in a truly predictably plot, but sustained by some good performances, it is nothing brilliant. But it's fun!
