Out of Time

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Two-time Academy AwardÂ(r) winner* Denzel Washington (Training Day) is "fantastic [in this] inventive, exciting and spellbinding thriller" ("The Movie Network") co-starring Eva Mendes (2 Fast 2 Furious), Sanaa Lathan (Blade) and Dean Cain ("Lois & Clark"). In Banyan Key, a small Florida town surrounded by azure seas and sultry secrets, Chief of Matt Whitlock (Washington) finds himself caught in the eye of a storm and about to get blown away. Investigating the murder of a woman he was secretly seeing, Matt races to uncover a murky trail of stolen money, drugs and deceit, all the while staying two steps ahead of his own detectives because all the evidence points to him! .com ---- Partly inspired by 1948's The Big Clock and its nominal 1987 remake No Way Out, the Denzel Washington thriller Out of Time is quite enjoyable if you ignore its implausible plotting. Like those earlier films, this reunion of Washington and his Devil in a Blue Dress director Carl Franklin is about a man--in this case the chief (Washington) of y Banyan Key, Florida--who falls into a trap set by others, sinks into legal quicksand of his own making, and must race the clock to extricate himself from a series of incriminating setbacks. The Florida setting adds welcome character to the potboiler plot, and Washington's screen-cred makes it easy to overlook the absurdities of rookie writer David Collard's screenplay. Eva Mendes is sharp and sensible as Washington's estranged wife (do you think they'll reconcile for a happy ending?), and the talented John Billingsley--whose portrayal of "Dr. Phlox" on TV's Enterprise is vastly underrated--is a constant delight as Washington's medical examiner, buddy and wily co-conspirator. It's hardly a classic, but Out of Time goes well with a big tub of popcorn. --Jeff Shannon