Out of Time plays a lot like a modern film noir. It has many of the familiar beats you would expect from classics of the genre, and that worked quite well for me. I'm also a sucker for films that involve a protagonist fighting to clear their name for a crime they didn't commit. It makes almost every single scene of the film tense and stressful, as it feels any moment our hero might get caught. I loved the fact that I could completely understand what was going through Whitlock's head, and why he did each thing as the film goes on. It certainly doesn't hurt that the amazing Denzel Washington is in the lead role, because he has a natural talent for making characters that are charming and sympathetic. There are wonderful twists in the plot throughout, and I could not wait to see what would happen next.
There are really only 2 reasons that I struggled with Out of Time. For starters, while I love Denzel and often think he can do no wrong, it took a long time for me to like this character. He is a man who seems to relish his vices and never apologizes for them. His choices early on are not good, and even when it seemed everything was conspiring against him, I was dealing with feelings of frustration with how he handled things. My other difficulty with Out of Time is a pet peeve about the ending (minor spoilers ahead.) I've always struggled with a finale like this one, where the villain's plan is thwarted, and magically all the things the protagonist did throughout the film will no longer be a problem. The amount of sweeping under the rug that occurs in the finale of this film is almost laughable. But none of that changed the fact that Out of Time was a solid heart-pounding thriller that I'll watch again.
There are really only 2 reasons that I struggled with Out of Time. For starters, while I love Denzel and often think he can do no wrong, it took a long time for me to like this character. He is a man who seems to relish his vices and never apologizes for them. His choices early on are not good, and even when it seemed everything was conspiring against him, I was dealing with feelings of frustration with how he handled things. My other difficulty with Out of Time is a pet peeve about the ending (minor spoilers ahead.) I've always struggled with a finale like this one, where the villain's plan is thwarted, and magically all the things the protagonist did throughout the film will no longer be a problem. The amount of sweeping under the rug that occurs in the finale of this film is almost laughable. But none of that changed the fact that Out of Time was a solid heart-pounding thriller that I'll watch again.