'Out of Time' a stylish look at moral quagmire

By Phoebe Flowers
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

OUT OF TIME 2-1/2 stars With Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes. Directed by Carl Franklin. Running time: 105 minutes. Rated PG-13: Sexual content, violence, language.

The movie, which reteams Washington with his "Devil in a Blue Dress" director Carl Franklin, is pure formula. The myriad twists are never quite shocking, but they're never boring, either. The interesting thing about formulas, after all, is that they are usually proven to work. "Out of Time" is no exception.

Shot in Miami and several Gulf Coast towns last July, "Out of Time" is nothing if not hot. Matt, recently estranged from his sultry wife Alex (Eva Mendes, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico"), is having an affair with the equally sultry Ann Merai (Sanaa Lathan, "Love and Basketball"). Ann Merai is married to the violent, volatile former NFL star Chris (Dean Cain), whom she refuses to leave. Meanwhile, Matt is dealing with the sudden appearance of divorce papers, courtesy of Alex.

The movie's tangled developments, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone with a working knowledge of the noir genre, are made considerably more interesting by the strong performances. It seems almost redundant at this point to praise the consistently great Washington, but he is as commanding as ever playing a well-intentioned man who finds himself in a huge amount of trouble.

Mendes (who played opposite Washington in "Training Day"), Lathan and Cain hold up admirably next to him. But it's John Billingsley, who had a small role in Franklin's "High Crimes," who is perhaps most memorable as Matt's devoted friend Chae. His bumbling slobbiness is a great foil for Matt's increasingly crumbling coolness.

While it breaks no new ground, "Out of Time" seizes familiar story lines and gussies them up just enough to make the movie a perfectly worthwhile experience. And when you're in a cool theater, it's always nice to see other people sweat.