Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Out of Time (2003)

October 3, 2003, release date
Directed by Carl Franklin
Screenplay by David Collard
Music by Graeme Revell
Edited by Carole Kravetz
Cinematography by Theo van de Sande

Denzel Washington as Matthias Lee Whitlock
Eva Mendes as Alex Diaz-Whitlock
Sanaa Lathan as Ann Merai Harrison
Dean Cain as Chris Harrison
John Billingsley as Chae, medical examiner
Robert Baker as Tony Dalton
Alex Carter as Paul Cabot
Antoni Corone as Deputy Baste
Terry Loughlin as Agent Stark
Nora Dunn as Dr. Donovan
James Murtaugh as Dr. Frieland
O. L. Duke as Detective Bronze
Tom Hillmann as Robert Guillette, Living Gift salesperson

Produced by Original Film
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
DVD distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment

It’s hard to believe that Out of Time was released thirteen years ago. I think the story and the emphasis on the characters make the film timeless. (And I know there’s a pun to be made because of the film’s title but I’m not going to do it!) It’s always fun to watch Denzel Washington, and his performance in Out of Time does not disappoint. The director Carl Franklin provides commentary on the DVD, and he describes the story as lighthearted, but I think the film has many noir elements. It starts out lighthearted, then the tone slowly and successfully dissolves into one of tension and unease. So there are many great reasons to see this film.

Police chief Matthias (Matt) Whitlock is having an affair with Ann Merai Harrison. He is separated, but not yet divorced, from his wife Alex, who has just been promoted to detective. Ann Merai is married to Chris, and she tells Matt that Chris beats her. So when the tension in the film comes in the form of Chris’s threatening presence, it is completely believable. The story is told from Matt Whitlock’s perspective, and viewers can sympathize with his level of concern. And then Chris and Matt trade not-so-veiled threats twice: at the Harrison house and then later at a local bar.

(This blog post about Out of Time contains spoilers.)

Not too long after the exchange between Chris and Matt, the Harrison house goes up in flames. The two bodies discovered in the charred remains are identified as the Harrisons, and the fire is labeled arson. The money that Matt took from the evidence locker and gave to Ann (because she needs alternative cancer treatment in Switzerland) is missing, although he and viewers don’t know if it was also lost in the fire. Now that the two bodies represent two homicides, Matt’s wife Alex, now a detective, is working the case. The police chief is in the predicament of having to stay one step ahead of his wife’s professional and competent murder investigation and federal agents’ search for the money, which—it turns out—they need for their own case.

Even though Out of Time includes a good bit of humor and romance (some of the tension comes from the dynamic between Matt and Alex), and a fantastic Latin jazz score, the tension surrounding the murder investigation builds slowly and steadily. Viewers can root for Matt. He’s a character in a typical film noir situation: He makes one bad decision, out of compassion, and he is caught in the ensuing complications that escalate until his guilt looks certain—and certain to be discovered. After his one bad decision, fate takes over, and Matt has to scramble to fix the repercussions of his theft from the evidence locker.

The director Carl Franklin, in his audio commentary on the DVD, talks about the heat, tropical colors, and tropical downpours: the setting and the Florida weather are characters in the film. The heat and sultry night scenes give the romance scenes and the tension an added urgency, and heat—day or night—is a feature of many neo-noirs. When heat is a feature of a neo-noir, I call it film brûlant (“burning film”). As the plot unfolds in Out of Time, viewers learn that deceit, greed, and betrayal are also factors in the story, and all these factors are evidence, for me, that Out of Time is a neo-noir.

Out of Time is fun to watch. The plot twists and turns—and Matt scrambles—until the very end, and it would be a shame to give away any more details. And then there’s Denzel Washington: He gives another great performance, with believable chemistry between him and Ann and between him and Alex. Viewers can’t go wrong with the great story in this neo-noir.

No comments:

Post a Comment