Movie Review - Out of time

Set in the small coastal town of Banyan Key just outside of Miami, Florida - the story follows the trials and tribulations of the local Chief of Police Whitlock – Denzel Washington. Whitlock is a seemingly content, self-made man – running a small department of just 4 police officers, he owns a picturesque makeshift hut on the water where he indulges in his favourite pastime of fishing and has recently made a successful drug bust confiscating a large amount of cash. However it's not all roses for Whitlock who is in the midst of a not so amicable separation with his wife (who has recently been promoted to detective in Miami) and is having an affair with a local married woman, his former high-school sweetheart, who is also in an unhappy marriage.

As the story unfolds we learn that the woman whom Whitlock is having an affair with has cancer and been given just six months to live – her only chances of recovery some very expensive treatments in Switzerland which she has no hope of paying for. Upon learning her fate she signs over her life insurance policy to Whitlock claiming that she‘d rather he have it than her abusive husband. At this point it’s easy to predict what’s going to happen – Whitlock, like most men has a soft spot for attractive women in distress and takes on the role of the knight in shining armour. His weakness causes him to act irrationally by offering up the recently confiscated drug money for the expensive treatments.

Again no prizes for guessing what happens next, after a series of un-returned calls and a visit to his lover's now vacated house it dawns on Whitlock that he has been suckered into a plot to co-erce him to hand over the drug-money. To complicate matters, the next morning he awakens to find that his lover’s house has been burnt to the ground and two charred corpses have been found amongst the carnage. Forensics experts at the scene quickly determine that the fire was deliberately lit and the two bodies are not those of Whitlock’s lover and her husband but two recently deceased corpses from the local morgue.

Whitlock now finds himself in a dire situation. As the beneficiary on the insurance policy it appears as though he has conspired to fake his lovers death to collect on the insurance. The evidence is overwhelming stacked against him, not only is he sole beneficiary on the insurance policy, his phone number is all over her phone records and a witness spotted him at the scene of the crime on the night of the fire. A further thorn in his side is that his newly promoted wife has been put in charge of the investigation and to top it off, federal agents make a phone call to Whitlock informing him that they will be driving down to Banyan Key that afternoon to pick up the now missing drug money.

At this point the movie kicks into gear. The next 40 minutes is tense, non-stop action as Whitlock attempts to conceal his involvment whilst trying to track down his lover and recover the drug money. I can’t recall the last time I saw a movie that had me literally on the edge of my seat for such a long period of time. It's not your typical shoot em up, blow it up, Hollywood trash but clever fast paced action that keeps you guessing from one scene to the next. The viewer can't help empathising with Whitlock’s predicament and get caught up in the unfolding drama. The ending is somewhat of an anti-climax in comparison to the main part of the film however I still came away feeling that it was worth my 330 yen.

Washington is excellent as chief Whitlock and Sanaa Lathan does well as his lover. Another good performance is that of Whitlock's lover's husband played by Dean Cain. Most people remember Cain as the man of steel from that awful Superman series a few years back. For this film he has to shed that morally incorruptble image to become an angry abusive husband which he pulls off remarkably well. There a couple sub-standard performances, Eva Mendez as Whitlock's wife is just not believable as a hard-nosed detective. Prize to the most annoying performance goes to John Billingsly who plays Whitlock's trusty, sidekick. He's portrayed as a sligtly off the wall, loyal friend with a 'whacky' sense of humour and a complete lack of self-awareness - exactly the kind of characters yanks so easily identify with. Check out the Amazon.com reviews of the movie for their upbeat assessments of Billingsly's performance.

At times the plot may apppear convoluted and implausible but the performances of Washington, Lathan and Cain enable you to overlook the film's shortcomings and enjoy the ride. Considering the plethora of mind-numbing activities avaliable for sheer indulgence it's not a bad way to kill 2 hours.