Verdict: The movie's nothing much, but Denzel charms.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

These days, it's hard to dislike Denzel Washington in anything. And he's very likable in “Out of Time,” a throwaway thriller with some crowd-pleasing qualities.

Washington plays Matt Whitlock, an easygoing but gullible police chief in a laid-back Florida backwater. Much of his sunny attitude comes from his willingness to bend the rules a little when need be. For example, he's having an affair with his high school sweetheart, Ann (Sanaa Lathan), who's inconveniently married to a hot-headed, wife-abuser, Chris (Dean Cain).

Matt's married, too, but his wife, Alex (Eva Mendes), also a cop, has just asked for a divorce. Apparently, she found his sunny side a little too shady.

Still, Matt has things pretty much the way he wants until a double murder case goes weird and he finds himself up to his neck in trouble. To top things off, his estranged wife has also been assigned to the case.

The movie plays like a cross between “Body Heat,” with its frame-ups, and “No Way Out,” with a protagonist puddle-jumping from one do-or-die dilemma to the next.

Director Carl Franklin, of “One False Move” and “High Crimes,” gives the shaky script a professional gloss, efficiently tightening the noose as the minutes tick away. The Latin jazz score adds a sultry beat, and the cinematography captures the lazy ambience of a small beach town. Lathan, Mendes and Cain are all good . . . and gorgeous. Washington plays the film's off-beat humor just right, as does John Billingsley, who steals quite a few scenes as a slacker pal.

“Out of Time” is a trifle, even a sloppy trifle on occasion — a bone tossed to the star's zillion fans who can't wait a whole year for another Denzel fix. In this instance, they get to watch their favorite sweat bullets. But Washington is the kind of actor that, even when he sweats, he glows.