Home :: DVD :: Mystery & Suspense  

Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem
British Mystery Theater
Classics
Crime
Detectives
Film Noir
General
Mystery
Mystery & Suspense Masters
Neo-Noir
Series & Sequels
Suspense
Thrillers
Out of Time

Out of Time

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $11.96
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 .. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nice twist
Review: Nice movie and a nice twist... Very exciting and Denzel did a great job portraying his role.

I like the twist in this story!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: When trust and love are confused as genuine ideas........
Review: Out of Time is a well presented movie. In my opinion, Denzel holds the movie together. He is an actor with much flexibility to play different characters. In this movie, he gets too involved with an old relationship and adds too much trust or perhaps not enough, and almost pays too high of a price to get out of the jam he is in.

The movie setting is Florida and the characters present a down to earth attitude, with the exception of the villians. And, in many respects, I believe this adds humor to suspense. And, it makes movies like this more enjoyable. As oppose to all the bad language to get a point across, crime and violence, and borderline porn.

For a change, a good change, this type of movie for a suspense is a balance of suspense, love, humor, friendship, and to some degree a small town community friendly way of life. Denzel gives a great performance; John Billingsley does a good job; and, Eva Mendes is the beautiful, eccentric, exotic ex-wife of Denzel's character. She is quite an attractive woman.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Denzel turns laughable plot into a white-knuckle thriller
Review: I have always thought very highly of Denzel Washington as an actor. His Oscar-winning roles in "Glory" and "Training Day" are quite compelling. Some of his roles where he failed to win an Oscar (or even be nominated), such as "Malcolm X", "Courage Under Fire", and "The Hurricane" are even more impressive. Yet, though there are many actors who, given good material, can perform quite well, the true mark of a great actor is their ability to elevate a bad material and lousy script and make it a totally watchable movie. Denzel is just such an actor. As many times in his career as he has delivered tour-de-force performances in excellent movies, he has also managed to make a number of poor films enjoyable. Some of the turkeys he has been a part of include "Ricochet", "Virtuosity", "The Preacher's Wife", and this 2003 entry "Out of Time". In each case, these films contain laughable characters, wildly over-the-top plot twists, and poor dialogue. Yet, Washington manages to elevate these films (he did have an assist from Russell Crowe in "Virtuosity") to a level of campy, popcorn fun.

Denzel's latest, "Out of Time", would be an utter failure in the hands of a lesser actor. The generic title and wildly implausible script could easily assign this to most critics' and moviegoers' non-descript pile. Yet, the presence of Denzel Washington makes this film very enjoyable and allows the audience to overlook flaws in the film.

The film takes place in a sleepy Florida town where Matt Lee Whitlock (Denzel Washington) serves as its police chief. Aside from a very notable drug bust that he was involved in, the only other drama in Whitlock's life comes in the form of his impending divorce from his wife Alex (the sexy Eva Mendes), a federal agent, and his affair with the wife, Anne Marie Harrison, (Sanaa Lathan) of a former NFL quarterback and current wife-beater, Chris Harrison (Dean Cain in a sleazy turn that will stun the fans of "Lois and Clark"). While Matt laments the ending of his marriage, he seems to be pleasurably distracted by his involvement with Anne Marie until she tells him that she has cancer and may only have a few months to live. She needs a radical medical procedure involved in Europe, but doesn't have the money to pay for this expensive procedure. Matt, in a moment of emotional weakness decides to pull the evidence money from the drug bust from his safe and give it to her to pay for the procedure. Of course, not long after he does that, the Harrison's house goes up in flames as a result of arson and both Anne Marie and Chris are presumed dead. Now, with the money gone and feds unexpectedly breathing down his neck for that evidence, Matt's soon-to-be ex, Alex, returns to town to investigate the arson. Realizing that almost all of the evidence points to him, Matt begins a panicky race against time to find out what really happened while covering the clues that could indict him.

"Out of Time" has quite a bit working for it. The South Florida atmosphere, very attractive female leads, and white-knuckle tension give this film a lot in its favor. It should be mentioned that Matt's sidekick, medical examiner Chae (played by John Billingsley of "Star Trek: Enterprise"), provides wonderful comic relief to prevent this film from overdosing on the tension. Of course, the implausible scam concocted to defraud Matt of the evidence, the ludicrous plot twists at the end, and dialogue that is slightly less than Shakespearean are strikes against the film. As alluded to before, had this been in the hands of a lesser actor, this movie would not have been worth seeing. Fortunately, Denzel once again rides to the rescue of a film and, in this case, elevates it to a four-star thriller.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: DEAN CAIN IS SMOKIN' HOT
Review: I've read several reviews of this movie, and they all fail to mention the most important fact--that Dean Cain is absolutely to-die-for (no pun intended) in this so-so movie. I never liked him that much before, but he does wonders for a goatee here. I practically lived for his few blessed minutes of screen time.
Why isn't this gorgeous, talented actor in more movies as opposed to actors like Vin Diesel, who have no talent and are not even good-looking? You've got me.
That said, the movie is all right, with the Florida flavor adding much to the plot. Eva Mendes is gorgeous as always, and Denzel is okay, too. Sanaa Lathan is very good (and also, very much up to the demands of her role), but the movie may seem predictable to some, highly implausible to others. Nevertheless, it's full of twists and turns, good looking actors, and all that Florida scenery. Really, for a "new" film noir, it's pretty darn good.
Please watch this movie, if only for the very sexy and highly underrated DEAN CAIN.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pesky libido gets cop into hot water
Review: OUT OF TIME illustrates a predicament familiar to most men, i.e. when good sense is subverted by the promise of genital happiness with a pretty woman.

Denzel Washington is Matt Whitlock, Sheriff of Banyon Key, FL. His wife Alexandra (Eva Mendes), a Miami homicide gumshoe, has moved out and is getting the divorce papers processed. In the meantime, the sheriff finds solace in the bed of Ann (Sanaa Lathan), the abused wife of jealous Chris (Dean Cain), a local morgue security guard. Paradise begins to unravel when Ann reveals that she has terminal cancer and six months to live. After an unsuccessful attempt to convert a million dollar life insurance policy into the cash needed to fund experimental cancer treatment in Switzerland, Ann makes Matt the beneficiary, and the latter "loans" her five-hundred grand in impounded drug money, evidence in a stalled criminal investigation, that's currently on ice in the sheriff's safe. The night after Ann takes possession of the swag, she and her husband are apparently murdered in their home, which is then torched. Alexandra is assigned to the case. Meanwhile, the cash has disappeared; Matt is identified by a non-reliable witness as the suspicious person skulking outside his paramour's home the night of the crime; and the local DEA chief has phoned to say that he's sending two of his heavies over to take possession of the drug money. Fancy dancing is in order if Matt is to stay out of Deep Bandini.

The plot becomes more incredible with a compressed time frame that demands that Matt extricate himself from his mess over two 8-hour work shifts. Alexandra doesn't even have the time to change out of a gloriously short and tight miniskirt and high heels, in which outfit she manages to kick down a locked door. (At that point, my wife leaned over to whisper, "Do you know what would happen if one really tried that?" Perhaps she has a secret life I don't know about?)

This isn't Washington's most memorable performance. But, since Denzel is one of Hollywood's most appealing actors, who cares? Matt spends the entire latter half of the film looking like a deer mesmerized by approaching highbeams while teetering on the edge of an abyss. Alexandra is constantly giving him that hard look familiar to guilty husbands everywhere that implies the question, "Is there something you want to tell me?" The Final Confrontation, which takes place in the familiar milieux of rain, darkness, and a creepy abandoned structure, does benefit from a satisfying plot twist.

OUT OF TIME is a better than average entertainment vehicle more cost effectively viewed as a DVD rental on the small screen.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Str8 Movie
Review: This movie was really crazy. AT first i didnt think that i was ganna like it cus of the way it was when i seen it on TV, but when i went to the movies to see it, when the movie first start out it is good. the movie is twisted and wicked. this is one of the best movies ive seen yet. Mr Washington sure knows how to act in this movie. every move and every steo he take it a shocking movement. if u havent seen this moive then u dont know what ur missing. I cant wait til this movie somes out on DVD cus i know in gon b right there when it comes out. and i cant wait cus i love this movie and if u see it, u would to.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: OUT OF (PLOT) TIME!!!
Review: I really wanted to like this movie---I even cut out of work early to see this movie, and well (sigh), here goes...

Matthias Whitlock {Denzel Washington--Training Day, John Q.} is the chief of police in small-town, who happens to be married and having an affair with his high-school sweetheart Anne Marei Harrison {Sanaa Lathan--Love & Basketball, Brown Sugar}, who is struggling with her own fidelity issues with an abusive husband, Chris Harrison {Dean Cain--host of Ripley's Believe It Or Not}, an former quarterback turned security guard who is bitter and strapped for cash.

One day, Anne Marei takes Matthias to the doctor where she learns she is terminally ill with cancer. Treatments are expensive and not guaranteed to extend her life. Whitlock decides to take measures into his own hands, and steal some drug money from a successful bust to help his lover.

On the night he is to deliver the money, Anne Marei's house has been burned to the ground, killing her and her husband!! Investigators suspect foul play and are looking for answers. To make matters worse, the lead detective is Whitlock's wife {Eva Mendes--Training Day}.

Now Whitlock, must solve this mystery and keep the rest of the force hot off his trail, before they discover the truth.

The movie draws you in without a problem, especially as Whitlock discovers some truths of his own. But it's the last 20 or so minutes of dialogue/plot that it all went downhill.

Overall, not too bad.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The Fugitive meets Double Jeopardy
Review: This is a very mediocre movie. It's like The Fugitive with Denzel's character being on the run from the law, even though he is the law as the chief of police for a small town on the Florida coast. It's like Double Jeopardy with all the convenient ways Denzel keeps the authorities from putting two and two together and arresting him. Convenient plot contrivances? They abound in Out of Time. Even the conclusion is less than believable. But it's still enjoyable, though you might be disappointed if you pay full price. A perfect choice for a matinee or on second release.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Out of Time
Review: This was a very enjoyable murder mystery. Denzel was very good as usual. He didnt really wear a white hat or a black one, rather a grey one. Very exciting.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Movie
Review: "Out of Time" has a super plot. What a enjoyable murder mystery and it's a great thriller. Denzel Washington plays Chief of Police Whitlock a cop who was set up for a murder he did not committ. The search is on for the real suspect. You'll like Washington as Chief Whitlock, and know he will figure it out and do the right thing in the end.


<< 1 .. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates