Out of Time

Matt Lee Whitlock is the chief of police in Banyan Key, a small Florida town where everyone knows everyone. His marriage to Alex Diaz, a homicide detective on his own small force, is ending, and he has been seeing Ann Merai Harrison, a married woman. Ann tells him she is terminally ill and needs expensive treatment abroad that she cannot afford. Matt takes nearly half a million dollars in seized drug money from the department safe and gives it to her. Soon afterward a fire destroys Ann and Chris's house and two bodies are found inside, while the money is gone. The investigation falls to Alex, and Matt, tied to Ann and to the missing cash, becomes the prime suspect. He must stay ahead of his own officers to clear himself.

Carl Franklin directed the film, his fifth feature after One False Move, Devil in a Blue Dress, One True Thing and High Crimes, from a screenplay by David Collard. Denzel Washington leads as Matt, with Eva Mendes as Alex, Sanaa Lathan as Ann, Dean Cain as Chris Harrison, John Billingsley as Chae and Alex Carter as Cabot. It was made for about 50 million dollars and took in roughly 55 million worldwide.

On IMDb the film holds 6.5 out of 10 from around 71,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.4 out of 10 from far fewer votes. A critics' rating of 6.4 out of 10 from 148 reviews places professional opinion close to the audience score, with both settling in mildly positive territory rather than outright praise.