Denzel Washington makes it `Time' worth spending

By Ty Burr, Globe Staff, 10/3/2003

A lot of talented people have expended a lot of energy on "Out of Time," an overly constructed little thriller that squeezes a fair amount of suspense out of its far-fetched plot. This is one of those movies that requires the hero to be in precisely the right place at all the right times; since that hero is played by Denzel Washington at his most impatiently manly, and since reliable pro Carl Franklin is directing, you may be forgiven for going along for the ride. But don't hate yourself for waiting for the DVD, either. Sheriff Matt Whitlock (Washington) is the big fish in Banyan Key, Fla., a coastal frog pond so small that his lissome wife Alex (Eva Mendes) has given up and gone to Miami to be a state homicide cop. Matt is honest in all the ways that matter but amoral in ways that count. Maybe he won't let any of his underlings near the neatly-packed pile of drug-bust money sitting in his office safe, awaiting impoundment by the DEA, but he's not above a window-fogging affair with Anne Merai (Sanaa Lathan), a high school flame now married to an abusive has-been football player (Dean Cain, effectively deep-sixing his "Lois and Clark" Superman persona).

I'm giving nothing away by saying that Anne Merai turns out to have terminal cancer, and that the experimental treatment that might save her life costs about as much as that stack of drug money. Remarkable coincidence number one. Beyond that, I can't divulge much, other than to say that someone winds up dead, Matt becomes the primary suspect, and his estranged detective wife arrives from Miami to assume control of the case. Remarkable coincidence number two.

Once it gets past the awkwardly structured set-up, "Out of Time" is cut from the same cloth as the 1987 Kevin Costner thriller "No Way Out" (which itself was a remake of 1948's "The Big Clock"). It caroms between two parallel investigations, Alex amassing the evidence that points to Matt, and Matt scampering one step ahead of her in his efforts to uncover who's framing him, all the while maintaining his cool. Did I mention that the DEA has picked this day to come calling for its evidence?

Some highly amusing bits result, as when Alex dials a mystery number listed on the murder victim's phone bill and Matt, standing 3 feet away, has to surreptitiously turn on his cell phone, turn off the ringer, and bypass his voice message within seconds. There's also some tense business involving an incoming fax and Matt's departmental computer: this is a movie to make office managers clutch their Twizzlers in suspense.

Eventually, "Out of Time" has Matt whaling away at a villain while hanging off a hotel balcony which itself is hanging on by one complaining bolt; later, there's a confrontation on a decrepit paddle-boat during a dark and stormy night. Why should you fall for any of this? Only because Denzel Washington tells you to; he plays Matt with a pleasingly ticked-off professionalism, the quick thinking that comes with desperation, and welcome glimmers of humor.

He doesn't quite believe what's happening to him and, by extension, neither should you. That's remarkable coincidence number three.

Ty Burr can be reached at tburr@globe.com.