Out of Time (2003)

starring Denzel Washington, Sanaa Lathan, Eva Mendes, Dean Cain, John Billingsley

directed by Carl Franklin

Chief Matt Whitlock (Denzel Wshington) of the Banyan Key Police Department is separated from his wife Alex (Eva Mendes) and having an affair with Ann Harrison (Sanaa Lathan). Chris (Dean Cain), Ann's husband, suspects that something is up and isn't on the best of terms with Matt. Whitlock allows his feelings for Ann to blind him and he does something stupid after she names him as the beneficiary of her $1 million life insurance policy.

Chief Whitlock's position gets extremely dangerous when Ann and Chris are killed in a house fire. Things get worse for Matt when Alex, a Miami PD homicide detective, is put in charge of the investigation. Matt does his best to stay one step or more ahead of Alex and the rest of his staff. His efforts to keep his name clean have diminishing returns and eventually Alex learns of his relationship with Ann and what he's been doing.

Thoughts

Carl Franklin, the director, was an actor early in his career but hasn't worked in front of the camera since the early 1990s. He had a recurring role on the A-Team and made guest appearances on other shows including Incredible Hulk, Rockford Files, and Good Times. He also directed Devil in a Blue Dress and has directed episodes of The Pacific, Rome, and House of Cards.

This movie has a ridiculous amount of twists. It is fun to watch but not the sort of movie that stands up to close scrutiny. The first 30-40 minutes are spent setting the scene. The rest of the movie is spent following Matt as he tries to prevent Alex and the rest of the cops from finding out what he did.

I saw this movie in a theater when it first came out. I didn't remember very much about it including the title. I remembered Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes were in it and that there was one scene that stuck in my mind. I recall enjoying it the first time around and I feel the same after watching it again, almost 20 years later.

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Here are my notes about Out of Time from the first time I saw it:

Oct 20, 2003

I went to see Out of Time, starring Denzel Washington, with my youngest brother last night. Great performance from Mr. Washington and all around excellent movie, in my opinion. The supporting cast includes Saana Lathan (previously seen as Blade's mother in Blade), Dean Cain (Clark Kent/Superman from Lois and Clark), and John Billingsley (Dr. Flox from Enterprise). All were very good, including Dean Cain as a bad guy, for once.

Mathias Whitlock (Denzel Washington) is a small town sheriff in the Florida Keys who gets himself in over his head when tries to help out his lover, Ann Merai (Saana Lathan), who is terminally ill and wants to get away from her abusive husband (Dean Cain). First he pretends to be her brother when he goes with her to see the doctor, then he loans her some impounded money from a drug case. Soon there after her and her husband are killed in a fire, and a murder investigation ensues. Not only is Sheriff Whitlock trying to prevent the investigation detective (who happens to be his soon-to-be ex-wife) from finding out he was sleeping with Ann Merai, but he also has the DEA breathing down his neck for the missing money. There are a number of twists and turns, but not so many that it got to be too unbelievable. Managing to stay a step ahead of his wife and with a little bit of help from the medical examiner (John Billingsley) things eventually resolve themselves, but not without getting kinda messy in the process.