t's definitely those eyes. The intensity of his gaze has worked well for Denzel Washington. Characters in leadership positions fit him like a finely cut suit - from the rugged Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling in Courage Under Fire, to the part of corrupt narcotics detective Alonzo Harris in Training Day, which won him his second Academy Award. (His first was for his performance as the runaway slave, Trip in Glory.)

  However, when his poised, staunch expression is jarred by uncertainty - as it was when he played lawyer Joe Miller whose views on homosexuality were shaken in Philadelphia - his acting takes on a layered quality and enhances his characters with a vulnerability with which audiences can relate.

  In Out of Time, Washington once again plays a leader, Matt Whitlock, the chief of police in the small community of Banyan Key, Florida. Matt is a hardworking man who is respected by his fellow officers and by the community. But he is not without his faults, and in a moment of weakness, he allows his good intentions and position of authority to corrupt him.
actors
Denzel Washington
Eva Mendes
Sanaa Lathan
Dean Cain

director
Carl Franklin

location
Florida

outtake
The film was a
reunion of sorts for Washington, who starred in Franklin's Devil in a Blue Dress and co-starred with Mendes in Training Day.


  This moment of bad judgment leads him into a maze of doubt and anxiety, and in the course of an investigation into a related double homicide - he finds all of the evidence he uncovers points to himself as the prime suspect. With the
investigation in full swing and several people working on the case with him, Matt must deceive his own police force to solve the murders before others uncover the clues that will result in his downfall.

  "For me," says Washington, "in terms of my character, the picture is really about temptation, and what can happen when you give into it. It's about sticking your hand in the cookie jar and it turns out to be full of fire. Though he's trying to help someone, trying to do good, Matt makes a couple of very bad mistakes."

  Given that the credibility of Matt's character would make or break the movie, it's not surprising that director Carl Franklin (High Crimes, One True Thing) would cast someone like Washington for the role. "If you didn't buy what Matt was doing every step of the way in this movie," he says, "you'd end up sitting there saying, 'Why did he do that?' Because it's Denzel and because he's so good, you believe him every step of the way."

  Playing Alex, Matt's estranged wife, is fast-rising star Eva Mendes (2 Fast 2 Furious, Once Upon a Time in Mexico). "Denzel is so open, available and exciting," she says. "I learned so much from him every single day. It's like acting school, but I'm getting paid instead of paying the school."

  Sanaa Lathan (Brown Sugar) who plays Ann Merai Harrison, has equally high praise for Washington: "He really honors his character. He honors the story. He immerses himself in the world of the film."

- Rui Umezawa