OUT OF TIME

Matt Whitlock (Denzel Washington), a police chief in a small town in the Florida Keys, finds himself in a predicament.  A woman he was having an affair with and her husband die in a suspicious fire. There's also some business to do with money and insurance policies that involve Matt.  He knows that the more evidence is uncovered the more guilty he will look.  

So he is in a race against time to uncover who has set him up, and why, before he is inevitably arrested.  In other words, this plot owes a big debt to the 1946 novel 'The Big Clock'.  

Because of the Florida setting, and that Matt's troubles stem from his steamy affair, this film reminded me of 'Body Heat', itself a reworking of the Billy Wilder film noir 'Double Indemnity'.

Whilst this film is nowhere near as good as either of those two classics, it does make for an entertaining viewing, and I enjoyed it more than those critics who found it too contrived or overly predictable. 

Certainly the plot strains credibility in several places, but I didn't mind given that the director Carl Franklin does a nice job of keeping the story flowing, and that Denzel is as watchable as ever.  There's a lot of fun to be had in the second act as he has to stop a flood of incriminating evidence coming to light.  There's even a pretty tense scene involving a fax machine!

Also adding to the fun considerably is John Billingsley as a somewhat eccentric Medical Examiner and friend to Matt.

On the other hand there's a somewhat unnecessary romantic subplot involving Matt and his estranged wife, who just happens to be the homicide detective heading the murder investigation (hmm, maybe those critics were right about it all being too contrived).

But the main problem when we get to the climax is that yes it is fairly predictable, and that Sanaa Lathan doesn't convince as the brains behind the whole plot. 

Nevertheless it's a fun outing to the Keys if you're in the right mood.

RATING: ✓ If You've Nothing Better To Do