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Out of Time Reviews

Out of Time comes on like a cool glass of lemonade on a hot summer day, featuring Denzel at the peak of his powers and an impeccably laidback aesthetic somewhere between the palpable sweat of Body Heat and the orange-hued romanticism of Tony Scott.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Oct 3, 2023

It works best as a sugar-rush thriller, light and undeniably absurd. But to be honest, that’s a big part of what makes it so much fun.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 24, 2022

The task of keeping this from getting too smart for its own good falls squarely on the dependable shoulders of Washington.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 19, 2020

It's the performance by the largely unknown (well, outside of Star Trek: Enterprise fans) John Billingsley that remains the freshest ingredient in this otherwise negligible piece of pulp fiction.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 21, 2018

Best for older teens and their parents.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 26, 2010

This generically titled mystery thriller is slow to catch on but holds joyous moments of suspense once it kicks in.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jun 14, 2009

In spite of decent performances from the main cast, Carl Franklin's thriller is listless and very weak.

Full Review | Apr 29, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 7, 2008

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 7, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 1, 2006

...tremendously entertaining throughout...

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 27, 2005

Second-rate Hitchcock.

Full Review | Original Score: C | May 4, 2005

Franklin seems to be aware that the audience knows what is going to happen.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Feb 16, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Oct 7, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 25, 2004

The suspense is killing, but the sense of being in the hands of a skilled storyteller is relaxing, too. Out of Time is a blast without making you work for it.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Mar 19, 2004

I have a policy about life insurance policies in movies like this: Don't be the beneficiary. Just don't do it. Nothing good ever comes of it.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 28, 2004

O roteiro acaba negligenciando um aspecto que deveria ser importante para o heri: a inteligncia.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 27, 2004

Only good enough to remind of the kind of filmmaker that Franklin has been and, hope springing eternal, could be again.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 24, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 2, 2004

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Out of time, common sense media reviewers.

Best for older teens and their parents.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Honesty is the central theme of this film.

A strong, racially diverse cast features powerful

Tense peril and gunplay, characters killed, brief

The movie includes some steamy sexual situations t

Some strong language.

Drinking and smoking, character drinks too much.

Parents need to know that this movie includes some steamy sexual situations that are right up at the limit of the PG-13 rating. Characters use some strong language. Characters drink and smoke, one to excess. Violence includes gunplay, death from a fall, and a brief shot of charred dead bodies. Inter-racial…

Positive Messages

Positive role models.

A strong, racially diverse cast features powerful and determined individuals.

Violence & Scariness

Tense peril and gunplay, characters killed, brief graphic shot of charred bodies. Intense peril.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The movie includes some steamy sexual situations that are right up at the limit of the PG-13 rating; adultery.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this movie includes some steamy sexual situations that are right up at the limit of the PG-13 rating. Characters use some strong language. Characters drink and smoke, one to excess. Violence includes gunplay, death from a fall, and a brief shot of charred dead bodies. Inter-racial relationships and marriages are refreshingly portrayed as commonplace, one of the movie's strengths. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (3)

Based on 3 parent reviews

Danger: Disturbing Graphic Sex Scene( Pass on this Movie )

Film noir throwback, what's the story.

With its very tangled web of betrayal, greed, and murder, OUT OF TIME recalls those classic old-fashioned noir films. Everything about Chief of Police Matthias Whitlock (Denzel Washington), from the crisply pressed white shirt and dark shorts of his uniform to the way he walks down the street checking to see whether all the doors are locked, tells us that he is extremely careful, meticulously honest, and highly professional. But then he answers a call from Ann Harrison (Sanaa Lathan) about a prowler, and things are different when it comes to her. They are having an affair that no one else knows about, especially Ann's abusive husband (Dean Cain) and Matt's estranged wife Alex (Eva Mendes). Matt tells Ann a small lie about Alex. And then, when Ann is diagnosed with cancer and needs an experimental treatment, borrowing that money from the evidence safe begins to seem like a possibility. The sharp uniform and close shave are gone. Matt wears a loose Hawaiian shirt and looks increasingly unraveled.

Is It Any Good?

Like Body Heat , Out of Time is a throwback to the noir classics, in which an ordinary man is drawn into disaster. Matt (and the audience) may think at first that he has done the wrong thing for the right reasons, but then things spiral out of control and into disaster. The plot holes are outweighed by the specifics of the story and the people who tell it. The movie makes nice sly use of the cliche that white people think that all black people look alike. Having Alex as the homicide detective assigned to the case is a fine twist, and affects her in personal and professional ways.

Most important, there is Washington himself, one of the all-time most mesmerizing and appealing screen stars. This role takes full advantage of all of Washington's greatest strengths, especially his ability to get and keep us on his side and his brilliance in conveying a secretive character. Lathan and Mendes are both exceptionally fine, and Cain is nicely creepy and menacing. The real find here, though, is John Billingsly as Matt's colleague Shay, whose gives his line readings a deliciously offbeat spin, making him far more than the standard wisecracking sidekick.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about where Matt's turning point was and whether he would have been more likely to tell the truth if not for his complicated relationship with Alex.

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 2, 2003
• On DVD or streaming : January 6, 2004
• Cast : Denzel Washington , Eva Mendes , Sanaa Lathan
• Director : Carl Franklin
• Inclusion Information : Black directors, Black actors, Female actors, Latino actors
• Studio : MGM/UA
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 105 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : sexual content, violence and some language
• Last updated : October 30, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

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Out of Time

This week's films

Reviews in chronological order (Total 7 reviews)

Unknownusers, submitted by josh on 23/12/2003 17:47.

23 December 2003 5:47PM

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• DVD & Streaming

Out of Time

• Drama , Mystery/Suspense , Romance

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Denzel Washington as Matt Lee Whitlock; Eva Mendes as Alex Diaz-Whitlock; Sanaa Lathan as Anne Merai Harrison; Dean Cain as Chris Harrison; John Billingsley as Chae

Home Release Date

• Carl Franklin

Distributor

Movie review.

Noir means “black” in French. It also describes a film genre that deals in seedy criminals, violent crimes and grimy, squalid locales, all drenched with darkness and gloom. Given that definition, Banyan Key—a sandy paradise in Southern Florida—doesn’t exactly seem like a director’s first choice for a noir piece’s setting. But it serves as a backdrop for the quirky Out of Time , which The Washington Post calls “noir sunny-side up.”

And what sun there is. Banyan Key police chief Matt Whitlock has certainly enjoyed the luminous locale, along with the slow pace of the picturesque isle. But lately his life has gotten difficult. He is separated from his wife, Alex (who has become a detective with the city of Miami) and has compounded his woes by secretly taking up with the lovely Anne Harrison. Now he has divorce papers in hand and Anne’s abusive husband, Chris, on his back. Then he learns that Anne has terminal cancer. Her only hope is a regimen of unaffordable experimental treatments. Resigned, Anne tells Whitlock that she has named him as the beneficiary on her $1 million life insurance policy and she is skipping town. Why end her days with a cruel lout like Chris? But Whitlock has another idea. In his evidence locker is $485,000 seized during a drug bust that he knows nobody will look for until its previous owner exhausts his court appeals. With cash like that Anne can get her treatment quickly and easily.

As fast as the “answer” became apparent, the solution falls apart. Anne takes the dough and that night her house bursts into flames. Two charred bodies are discovered in the ruins and Alex is assigned to the case. Then rumors about Anne’s affair begin circulating throughout the community. DEA agents start calling, asking about the money that is no longer in its evidence locker. And there sits Whitlock, who alone has motive (the insurance policy) and opportunity (he was alone that evening). How many lies can he tell before someone realizes his story doesn’t quite line up?

Positive Elements

Whitlock’s affair with Anne aptly demonstrates the truths of Proverbs 5:7-14 and he eventually acknowledges that their adultery was wrong. [ Spoiler Warning ] That realization paves the way for his eventual reconciliation with Alex.

Spiritual Elements

A cross and a sculpture of a saint are featured in Mercy Hospital. A fortune teller’s store makes a very brief appearance during the opening credits.

Sexual Content

Whitlock and Anne’s relationship is primarily sexual and twice the camera peers in on the two while they’re “in the act.” Whitlock gropes a bra-clad Anne and—off-screen—she performs fellatio on him (a radio call that interrupts the act cracks double entendres about ejaculation and orgasms). During another scene, they noisily go at it against a wall (no nudity is seen). Whitlock slyly mocks Chris’ sexual prowess. An officer ogles a well-endowed woman’s “rack.” Whitlock’s medical examiner, Chae, jokes about the Chief’s longevity in bed. A snippet of The Tonight Show includes a mention of women exposing themselves. Anne and Alex occasionally wear somewhat revealing outfits. A number of other women sport bikinis.

Violent Content

Fisticuffs between Whitlock and a suspect ends with a man falling from a broken balcony railing to his death. Chris and Whitlock brawl. Anne has a bloody gash on her face. Chris vengefully shoves Anne. Two people are killed by close-range gunfire. Bullets graze another person’s head (a bloody rivulet runs down his face) and strike his leg. A house bursts into flames and two charred corpses are glimpsed in the rubble. Anne throws a piece of pottery in anger and a frustrated Whitlock knocks over some furniture. It’s implied that Whitlock punches a hotel employee. A woman violently slams her head against a table to injure herself.

Crude or Profane Language

An f-word and about eight s-words top the list of over 30 profanities and crudities. God’s name is abused about 10 times and Jesus’ about half-a-dozen times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Whitlock often drinks beer while on duty, which seems intended to show his lack of professional discretion. Chae perpetually puffs on a cigarette and gives his liver a not-so-healthy workout by regularly imbibing beer. Whitlock, Chae and Chris tipple at a bar. Alex indulges as well.

Other Negative Elements

Anne lies to her doctor about Whitlock’s identity, calling him her brother. Whitlock resorts to everything from faking phone calls to falsifying evidence to out-and-out theft in order to cover up his involvement with Anne. Chae even jumps to his defense when he uncovers his boss’ deception. [ Spoiler Warning ] All that wouldn’t be as problematic if Out of Time had shown the consequences of Whitlock’s actions. As it stands, a last minute twist at the end all but obliterates any moral lessons.

An audience’s ability to suspend disbelief is a bit like the surface tension at the top of a glass of water. You can pour in a lot of liquid, even to the point where it bulges over the brim. But add one drop too many and the tension breaks. Out of Time is a taut thriller that unfortunately shatters any aspirations to realism with its overly convoluted conclusion. And in the process, story lines that might have led to a fattening of this review’s “positive elements” section are kinked back on themselves. Specifically ruined are lessons that could have been learned from Whitlock���s “well-meaning,” yet relentless (and self-destructive) lawlessness. Most discerning families won’t be bothered by that, though. Frequent profanities, bloody violence and unhealthy sexuality will prevent them from devoting any time at all to this sunny noir.

Loren Eaton

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OUT OF TIME

What You Need To Know:

(Pa, B, PC, LLL, VV, S, A, M) Secular pagan worldview with redeeming elements such as an affirmation of marriage and some politically correct social comments; 24 obscenities and 14 profanities; violence includes murder by shooting and man falls from balcony to his death; implied intercourse, couple in bed together, and depicted adultery; implied but no depicted nudity; alcohol use; smoking; and lying and cheating.

GENRE: Police Thriller

More Detail:

OUT OF TIME is a familiar formula crime thriller with a plot vaguely reminiscent of the 1987 screen hit NO WAY OUT starring Kevin Costner and Gene Hackman. Although not nearly as polished and intricate, and despite its various blemishes and occasional plot holes, it works with surprising precision and entertaining appeal to the great delight of its audience.

Matt Lee Whitlock (Denzel Washington) is the earring-clad Chief of Police in Banyan Key, Florida. Basking in the limelight of a well-publicized drug bust with the seizure of a major drug cache and a large sum of money, everything seems to be falling into place in his career, but his marriage is on the verge of collapse. Actually, the Whitlocks have separated, and the Chief has found consolation in an illicit romance with another married woman, the sultry Anne Harrison (played by Sanaa Lathan).

In a small community such as Banyan Key, everybody is bound to know each other, including Whitlock and Anne’s husband, Chris Harrison (Dean Cain). From the beginning, the two make it quite obvious that they don’t like each other – to put it mildly, especially when they both know who is cheating with whom. This thorny, steamy state of affairs is complicated even further when Anne finds out that she has terminal cancer and has only a few months to live. On the other hand, she has also discovered that her life insurance policy is not for $100,000 dollars as she had previously thought, but a cool million. Unfortunately, a technical glitch in the paperwork prevents her from cashing in a portion of the money to get an expensive cancer treatment in Switzerland that may save her life.

In an impulsive act of compassion, and against his better judgment, Whitlock decides to take the money from the drug bust and give it to Anne for her treatment. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished, even if it means breaking the law. No sooner has the Chief gotten hold of the confiscated money that the Good Samaritan plan goes seriously awry. Whitlock finds himself desperately trying to extricate himself from suspicion in a long list of crimes including obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, and a couple counts of murder. Time is rapidly running out as the Chief frantically stays one step ahead of the investigation conducted by his very own cops, the DEA, and even his beautiful wife detective Alex Diaz-Whitlock (Eva Mendes) as the clock ticks down to the surprising conclusion.

Denzel Washington has come to be one of Hollywood’s premier stars. Once again he convincingly demonstrates his star qualities in OUT OF TIME. Without a particularly long, or well-known list of credits, and by following the plain style of some of his earlier works such as ONE TRUE THING, Carl Franklin manages once again to find success in simplicity. The plot moves along smoothly, and all the elements necessary for a successful film made by the numbers are executed almost flawlessly. Add some well timed, truly funny, comedic relief, a few sharp, witty lines, some politically correct social observations, and a very good cast of characters, and voila, you have a cinematic hit.

OUT OF TIME is certainly not Oscar material, but a popular hit it should be. There were a few rough spots here and there, and even an occasional lack of concentration by Franklin that could have had the potential to give the plot away, but if a formula ever performed the function it was intended for, it is with OUT OF TIME. Sanaa Lathan, Eva Mendes, and Dean Cain make up a fitting supporting cast, and the Florida locations fortunately give moviegoers an updated, interesting look, while shying away from the worn “In the Heat of the Night” mood normally associated with crime thrillers in a Southern setting.

The very regrettably downside for OUT OF TIME is that the filmmakers have included plenty of foul language, and for a movie carrying a PG-13 rating, the director still saw the need to include a couple totally unnecessary sex scenes. The movie makes light of having an adulterous relationship and contains a conflicted hero, further marring this otherwise acceptable, enjoyable thriller. OUT OF TIME deserves extreme caution for moral viewers.

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SUMMARY: OUT OF TIME stars Denzel Washington as Matt Lee Whitlock, the respected chief of police in small Banyan Key, Florida, who must solve a vicious double homicide before he himself falls under suspicion. OUT OF TIME has all the elements necessary for a successful movie, but contains foul language, sexual content, and a conflicted protagonist that deserves extreme caution for moral viewers.

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Find Family Movies, Movie Ratings and Movie Reviews

Out of Time Parent Guide

Why is Out of Time rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Out of Time PG-13 for sexual content, violence and some language. Previously rated R in 2003.

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by rod gustafson.

Many movies depict characters repeatedly making bad decisions without facing any consequences. But such is certainly not the case for Matt Whitlock (played by Denzel Washington), whose adulterous actions with Anne Harrison (Sanaa Lathan) unleash a chain of events leaving him swimming in a sea of ramifications.

At first all seems to be going rather smoothly. Matt is in the midst of concluding an amicable breakup with his wife Alex (Eva Mendes). He is also well respected for his work as the police chief of tiny Banyan Key FL, and recently completed a drug bust that netted a wad of cash he’s holding as evidence.

Needless to say, it’s difficult to hide indiscretions in small town America. Anne’s abusive husband is certain something is up, and so is Matt’s ex. When Anne’s house goes up in flames one night, the chief’s world suddenly comes crashing down. With his former wife (a homicide detective working for the county) assigned to investigate the case, Matt attempts to cover the tons of evidence pointing to him as the obvious suspect.

Paced to keep your heart racing, this movie should push the thriller button for most viewers. As usual, Washington plays the type of guy we can all relate to. The audience I screened with even began talking to the screen—?Oh no!? ?You idiot!?—as they sat helplessly watching this character bury himself in a never-ending run of poor choices.

If you’re thinking teen audiences could benefit from this fine example of how imprudence naturally leads to bigger problems, you’re half right. But the script nullifies the other half of the consequence equation by building strong protagonist empathy and choosing to overlook penalties that would be unavoidable in reality.

This convoluted moral lesson is also tarnished with a couple of heady sexual situations in the early part of the movie that firmly establish the relationship between Matt and Anne. Later confrontations with guns result in bloody injuries and deaths, burnt skeletal remains are depicted, a man falls to his death from a high balcony, and profanities—while sparse—include a triplet use of a crude word describing sex along with other sexual discussions. A negative role model is also observed with the police chief’s habit of having a beer at work.

Perhaps for adults, this R-rater that was trimmed to fit a PG-13 category, will provide a non-stop ride that’s worth the price of admission. Just be prepared to leave the kids at home.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Out of time parents' guide.

According to the old adage, “It’s important to be in the right place at the right time.” Is it just as possible you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time? How does this movie illustrate the possibility of our passions interfering with our ability to making sound decisions?

Related home video titles:

Moonlight Mile is another compelling tale of a character that tells a lie and finds himself caught in a tangled web (but parents should note this film contains a lot of language concerns.) Denzel Washington can also be seen in the family friendly drama Remember the Titans , where he plays the part of a football coach whose greatest challenge is overcoming the color barrier.

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The year is 2044: artificial intelligence controls all facets of a stoic society as humans routinely “erase” their feelings. Hoping to eliminate pain caused by their past-life romances, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay).

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• The film lovingly highlights the importance of feelings and not forgetting

The Beast Moves Through Time To Unveil The Past Lives Of Its Central Pair

How they influence the present is just as important.

In 2044, Gabrielle ( Léa Seydoux ) is trying to rid herself of that baggage through a procedure that purifies a person's DNA, purging the patient of leftover emotions from their past lives. This procedure will rid her of these past traumas that cause Gabrielle to feel a lingering sense of doom in the present day. What that doom entails remains a mystery, but she's not the only one hoping to temper feelings of disquiet.

Gabrielle encounters Louis (George MacKay) while prepping for the procedures, and she is drawn to the man with an air of familiarity about him. When she finally dives into her past lives, we see her encounter different versions of Louis that change the course of her various lives. First, the pair meet in Belle-Époque-era Paris. In another life, Louis is an incel stalking Gabrielle as she house-sits a Los Angeles mansion while working as an actress.

The Beast Plays With Genre In Increasingly Exciting Ways

But the inevitability of horror lies around every corner.

In all of these lives, Gabrielle is near fatalistic in her conviction that some bad thing will befall her. The Beast 's real terror, though, comes from actualizing this feeling in its various tales. Whispers of Paris flooding follow Gabrielle and Louis in the early 20th century. Misogyny and violence hover over Gabrielle's life in 2014 Los Angeles. The threat of control follows her everywhere in 2044. The film's score and sound design are unsettling as they mimic or even impact what's happening onscreen.

All of these disparate elements feel like they shouldn't work together, but it's their discordant qualities that allow The Beast to coalesce into a symphony of anxiety.

Tight string arrangements follow Gabrielle as she's stalked through the Los Angeles mansion. Sweeping orchestral music accompanies Louis and Gabrielle's outings in Paris and deep synths serve as a backdrop for the film's minimalist future. All of these disparate elements feel like they shouldn't work together, but it's their discordant qualities that allow The Beast to coalesce into a symphony of anxiety.

In The Beast, The Apocalypse Is A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

The end is just the beginning.

The world is always ending in The Beast, and it's easy to see our own world reflected in the ones portrayed by Bonello. Seydoux's dialed-in performance — detached but all too aware — ensures that we are never too comfortable. Gabrielle's anxieties are much like our own — sea levels rising, political unrest, the erosion of the truth and empathy. Ironic detachment is the mode of our times, but when the irony disappears and all that remains is indifference, the world starts to feel a lot like the future in The Beast .

Even the film itself begins with detachment personified. In 2014, Gabrielle films a scene for what appears to be a horror movie, but in place of the empty house and horrifying monster, the floor and background are green screen. The director asks if she can be afraid of something that isn't really there. Gabrielle says she can. The fear we create in our heads is just as real as the fear created by a world in disarray. Those fears can manifest in people, in world-ending events, or in ideologies.

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By the end, The Beast knows that this fear — Gabrielle's and our own — is not something that can be purged. It is this fear that allows Gabrielle to be sincere, to search for meaning in a world where it is being sucked out of the air. In 2044, Artificial Intelligence rules the world after an unspecified catastrophe.

This catastrophe isn't the one Gabrielle is afraid of, but it is one that perhaps influenced her fear of the future. Our minds are always searching for something to be afraid of. Sometimes we need that fear. Bonello posits that, even in fear, feeling is more important than forgetting, and every little death is a door to another future.

The Beast opens in select theaters on Friday, April 5, expanding to more theaters on April 12.

‘Back to Black’ Review: Marisa Abela Nails Amy Winehouse in Every Look, Mood and Note in a Biopic at Once Forthright and Forbidding

Sam Taylor-Johnson's jazz-meets-rock-star drama exerts an authentic fascination, even as its dysfunctional-addict love story keeps us at a distance.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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“ Back to Black ,” the 2006 album that the new Amy Winehouse biopic takes its title from, is a record built on an exquisite contradiction. The music has a crispy delicious retro-bop bounce, a quality that extends to Winehouse’s voice, which takes the growling-cat stylings of jazz legends like Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday and kicks them up into something playfully ferocious. Yet when you tune into the lyrics, they’re as dark as midnight. “Rehab,” the album’s showpiece track, must surely be the jauntiest song ever recorded about an addict who turns the refusal to help herself into a stance of rock ‘n’ roll defiance.

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But the edge is there too. In an episode that provokes a chuckle, but also suggests the lack of boundaries that fuels her art, Amy attracts the interest of Nick Shymansky (Sam Buchanan), a potential manager, when she performs “Stronger Than Me,” a song that basically disses her boyfriend as an emasculated wimp (in the initial meeting with Nick, the boyfriend learns that he’s the dupe of the song and stalks out). Amy, at one point, says that she’s not a feminist because she likes boys too much. But the truth is she’s the incarnation of a new brand of womanly assertion, like Courtney Love reborn as a proudly dissolute jazz diva who has come through the looking glass of hip-hop. The measure of her feminism is that she does whatever she wants; she’s drawn to extremes of hedonistic self-expression, whether it’s how much she drinks, the tattoos she gets on a whim (far more of a novelty and a statement 20 years ago), or the fearless emulation of her jazz heroines. “I’m no fuckin’ Spice Girl,” she tells Nick. That would seem obvious, though it’s a lesson she’s going to keep proving even if it kills her.

Amy records her first album, “Frank” (2003), as a knowingly out-of-time jazz record. She keeps saying that she doesn’t care about making money. The album is named after her idol, Frank Sinatra (though the film never clues us into that), which means that she wants to do it her way. But that’s easier said than done once you’ve climbed onto the record-industry ladder. She meets with the executives, who have a few ideas based on the fact that the album wasn’t very commercial. They’d rather not release it in the U.S. (they want to wait for her follow-up album). They think she should stop playing the guitar onstage. Amy’s reaction to all this is to tell them to fuck themselves, and to say: I need to live to write songs, so I’m going to take a major break before I make my next album.

What living turns out to be is falling for the man who’ll be the love of her life, because he’s as charged an addict as she is. The extended sequence in which Amy meets the sexy, indomitable Blake Fielder-Civil (Jack O’Connell) at a pub is a bravura piece of mutual seduction in which the film’s director, Sam Taylor-Johnson , shows off her chops. Blake is not an emasculated wimp; his confidence is complete, his suavity bordering on the toxic. Jack O’Connell plays him as a kind of throwback — he’s like a late-’60s British matinee idol (think James Fox or the Michael Caine of “Alfie”) playing a jock with a lightning brain. He knows Amy’s record by heart; he also introduces her, on the jukebox, to the Shangri-Las’ “Leader of the Pack,” lip-syncing to it with gender-blending glee.

She spins the album “Back to Black” out of how shattered he left her. And it’s a sign of where the film’s priorities lie that we see her recording the irresistibly heartbreak-hooked title track, yet there’s little to no sense of how Winehouse’s masterful second and last album was created (the producer Mark Ronson gets a name-drop, the producer Salaam Remi gets an image drop, and that’s all). The album is a huge hit, making Amy a celebrity stalked by the paparazzi. And Blake takes the album’s message of melancholy as a signal that she’ll take him back. So he calls her, and they get married (basically a Vegas wedding in Miami Beach), and then they’re breaking up all over again.

“Sid and Nancy,” I’m afraid, this is not. We don’t swoon over the dysfunctional passion, the spectacle of two lovelorn addicts who are destined to bring out the worst in each other. Yet without that burning romantic core, “Back to Black” plays out what feels like an authentic but rather clinical version of amour fou.

What about the songs we love from “Back to Black”? Abela’s in-concert renditions of several Winehouse classics have a dilapidated splendor, and her performance of “Rehab” at the 2008 Grammy Awards is perfection, as is her version of “Tears Dry on Their Own” during the closing credits. Abela did all her own singing; she gets every soaring and scat-souled nuance. But while the songs keep popping up, they’re not in there in a way that feels, at each moment, like they’re expressing something so emotionally necessary that it becomes cathartic. Amy, contrary to her mythology, does end up in rehab. Near the end of her life, she gets clean, as Janis Joplin did. But that isn’t enough to keep her from becoming a member of the cautionary club of pop stars who died at 27 (Janis, Jimi, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain). Her self-destruction is on full display in “Back to Black.” Yet the film presents it, even revels in it, without giving you the sense that it fully understands it.

Reviewed at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Lower Manhattan, New York, April 8, 2024. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 122 MIN.

• Production: A Focus Features release of a Monumental Pictures production, in association with StudioCanal, with the participation of Canal + Cine + M6 and W9. Producers: Alison Owen, Debra Hayward, Nicky Kentish Barnes. Executive producers: Anna Marsh, Ron Halpern, Joe Naftalin, Sam Taylor-Johnson.
• Crew: Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson. Screenplay: Matt Greenhalgh. Camera: Polly Morgan. Editors: Martin Walsh, Laurence Johnson. Music: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Amy Winehouse.
• With: Marisa Abela, Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan, Juliet Cowan, Sam Buchanan, Lesley Manville.

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'Fallout' is coming to Prime earlier than expected: Release date, time, cast, how to watch

The end of the world apparently can't come soon enough.

Amazon had already bumped up the premier date once for its highly anticipated post-apocalyptic series " Fallout ." Now, it has done so again, announcing Monday that the television series based on the popular video game franchise is headed to Prime Video one day earlier than previously announced .

The surprise reveal that "Fallout" would be premiering not Thursday, but Wednesday, came via a late-night post from the show's official page on social media site X.

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The series from " Westworld " creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy of Kilter Films follows a resident of a fallout shelter who emerges 200 years after a nuclear war to explore a ravaged, unrecognizable country. Nolan directed the first three episode of the series, which is helmed by showrunners and writers Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner.

The series is likely to attract viewers who are both veterans of Bethesda's video game series and also new to "Fallout" entirely. Regardless of which camp you fall in, here's what to know about the Prime Video series .

Our critic's take: Review: Why Amazon's 'Fallout' adaptation is so much flippin' fun (the Ghoul helps)

The series, explained: Amazon's 'Fallout' TV show is a video game adaptation that's a 'chaotic' morality tale

'Fallout' premier date: Time, date of the series release

"Fallout" will debut Wednesday, April 10 at 9 p.m. EDT/6 PDT.

Walton Goggins, who plays a villainous bounty hunter known only as the Ghoul, revealed the earlier premier date in a video included with the announcement on X.

"As a thank you to all the fans out there, we're giving you the show early," Goggins said.

All eight episodes of "Fallout" will premiere at once in a departure for Prime, which typically releases its series on a weekly schedule.

How to watch 'Fallout' on Amazon Prime

Watching "Fallout" will require a  Prime  membership. Those without one can sign up for a 30-day free trial, after which a subscription will cost $14.99 per month.

Amazon announced Monday that it is also offering discounted memberships through  Prime Access , which is for those who use certain government assistance programs, as well as through  Prime Student for those enrolled in higher education.

'Fallout' on Prime: Subscribe

What is 'Fallout' about?

Bethesda's iconic action role-playing  video game franchise  never strayed far from the campiness and post-World War II era idealism that has come to define the series through multiple titles.

Like the games, the upcoming series appears to have maintained that influence and tone that sharply contrasts with an otherwise grim setting.

In the world of "Fallout," those with wealth were able to survive a nuclear war in 2077 by taking refuge in bunkers purchased from a company known as Vault-Tec. When one of those survivors, Lucy (Ella Purnell,) leaves the safety of the luxury fallout shelter 200 years later, she finds an irradiated hellscape that was once Los Angeles.

See the trailer for the debut season of 'Fallout'

Amazon  dropped the official "Fallout" trailer  March 7 that provides a glimpse of the menacing world uncovered by Lucy when she heads out into the Wasteland.

In the trailer, Lucy can be seen encountering a few characters, including a soldier named Maximus (Aaron Moten) who is part of a militaristic faction called Brotherhood of Steel, as well as the aforementioned Ghoul. The trailer even provides a glimpse of a  dog named CX404 .

"Everyone wants to save the world, they just –" Maximus says in the trailer, "they disagree on how."

See the trailer here:

'Fallout' cast: Who stars in Amazon's new series?

While Ella Purnell of Showtime's "Yellowjackets" is featured in all eight episodes, she'll encounter a variety of characters both menacing and quirky portrayed by a large cast.

• Ella Purnell  as Lucy
• Aaron Moten  as Maximus
• Walton Goggins  as The Ghoul
• Kyle MacLachlan  as Overseer Hank
• Sarita Choudhury  as Moldaver
• Moisés Arias as Norm MacLean
• Michael Emerson  Wilzig
• Leslie Uggams  as Betty Pearson
• Frances Turner  as Barb Howard
• Dave Register  as Chet
• Zach Cherry as Wood Thomas
• Johnny Pemberton  as Thaddeus
• Rodrigo Luzzi  as Reg McPhee
• Annabel O'Hagan  as Steph Harper
• Leer Leary as Davey
• Matt Berry as Snip-Snip
• Xelia Mendes-Jones as Dane

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Fallout' is coming to Prime earlier than expected: Release date, time, cast, how to watch

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The trailer for “Abigail” tells you almost everything you need to know about the movie, a wacky high-concept horror thriller about a group of kidnappers who bite off more than they can chew when they unwittingly abduct a child-sized vampire ballerina. The vamp, played with some relish by Alisha Weir , only really comes alive when she’s leering at or stalking her prey. Genre fans will also spot some familiar faces among the movie’s ensemble cast, all of whom do their best with this tic-y, schtick-y material. They curse (enough to seem like they’re overcompensating for some things); they run (around each other, mostly); they get picked off one by one. 

You already know what you’re in for if you’ve come to “Abigail” to watch a body count caper featuring plummy character actor performances from That Guys like Kevin Durand and Dan Stevens . Most of their co-stars keep up in less attractive roles, including Melissa Barrera ’s thinly drawn anti-heroine team leader. There’s also plenty of viscous-looking blood splatter and some modestly good-looking vampire makeup—the fangs, in particular. Some action scenes are well-choreographed, but generally over-edited and shot just ahead of whatever’s moving on-screen. The rest of this 90-minute genre exercise is unfailingly conventional, though that’s also a big part of its ostensible appeal.

I can’t really get or stay mad at “Abigail” for essentially delivering what its marketing promises. Sure, the movie’s creators, led by co-helmers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (better known as “ Radio Silence ,” directors of “ Ready or Not ” and the 2022 “Scream” reboot), could have delivered more, even though disenchanted viewers can’t exactly claim false advertising. The setup is strictly by the numbers and the characters are all stock types.

A team of bickering misfits kidnaps the title character (Weir). They follow her home with a comically oversized gizmo stuck to the bottom of her chauffeur’s car. Then they bring the 12-year-old-looking girl to a secluded mansion, where they’re reminded of their mission’s stakes. Shady but well-dressed ring-leader Lambert ( Giancarlo Esposito ) gives us and them the rundown: no real names, no cell phones, nothing personal—it’s 24 hours of baby-sitting a pre-teen who really likes to plié and step-toe her way through “Swan Lake” rehearsals. Simple is as simple does.

We learn very little about everyone, thanks in no small part to a scene where Lambert nicknames the characters after members of the Rat Pack. Durand’s character, a jolly-but-dim muscle-bro named Peter, tries to find the sense in being nicknamed after rats. Later, he gets that it’s a disposable pop culture reference and promptly moves on.

Peter’s the most sympathetic character in “Abigail,” partly because he’s constantly straining against the limits of what his character can know and do. He’s joined by a call sheet of tropes, including Abigail’s minder, the empathetic and observant Joey (Melissa Barrera); their irritating and wasted driver Dean (the late “ Euphoria ” star Angus Cloud ); and the strong-silent ex-soldier Rickles ( William Catlett ). Eventually, the team has to worry not only about Abigail, but a few predictable liabilities, like their bratty and easily bored electronics hacker Sammy ( Kathryn Newton ) and their foul-mouthed, inexplicably accented ex-cop backup leader Frank (Stevens).

None of these party game-light character traits really matter once Abigail gets loose from her handcuffs. The house that Abigail’s prey stay in has more personality, but it’s basically the house from “ Clue ” with some extra goth-y touch-ups. Maybe that’s all you need to enjoy watching a game cast check off every box as they struggle to figure out how to stop a “real” vampire. Nothing worth writing home about comes to mind.

It’s hard to get too excited watching so many talented actors try and barely succeed in making you want to care about their characters, especially since that isn’t the same thing as making you care. More could have been done with less tedious dialogue, as what's here is designed mostly just to hold the hands of viewers as the plot skips from beat to beat. More could have also been done with Joey, who, at one point, stuffs a loaded gun into her tight jeans’ waistband. I do and I don’t believe it.

“Abigail” may find its audience given a lucky combination of good timing and wishful thinking. It’s not badly made, just uninspired and played out. If you like B-movies made with a budget and are specifically looking for an undemanding time, “Abigail” might be for you. “Abigail” might also disappoint you, especially if you’re hoping for more than what’s advertised.

This review was filed from the Overlook Film Festival. It will be released on April 19th.

Simon Abrams

Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in  The New York Times ,  Vanity Fair ,  The Village Voice,  and elsewhere.

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‘The Old Oak’ Review: The Audacity of Hope

A family of Syrian refugees connects with a once-thriving mining town in Ken Loach’s moving drama.

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By Alissa Wilkinson

“The Old Oak” is named for the pub where much of its action happens — an old drinking hole in a village outside of Durham, England, that’s seen better days. Its back room, once a gathering place for the miners and their families who populated the town a generation ago, has been locked up for many years, fallen to disuse. Its walls are still hung with photographs of those miners taken during the lengthy strike of 1984-1985 , a labor effort that ended without the resolution the miners sought and with weakened trade unions. But during the action, the village marched in solidarity — at least for a while — and came together to share meals in that back room, to support one another, a point of pride for the men who were children back then.

When the movie begins, it is 2016, the year of the Brexit vote. It’s hard to imagine that kind of unity happening any more. The village has slowly emptied out, closing down places like the church hall, which had been a gathering spot. The village’s real estate is being bought up at auction by entities abroad, driving down the value of houses owned by locals, leaving them with nothing to live on in old age. Jobs are scarce. Money is tight. Children barely have enough to eat. And so in the Old Oak, a handful of regulars sit around, bitterly decrying the state of things.

They have lately found a target for their rage: a few families of Syrian refugees who have been settled in the village, helped along by a local charity worker named Laura (Claire Rodgerson) and Tommy Joe Ballantyne (Dave Turner), who goes by TJ and owns the Old Oak. He’s the one who has to listen to the regulars gripe and spew racist epithets about the refugees, always clarifying that they’re “not racist.” He says nothing. He doesn’t think he can. He needs their business to scrape by. He knows their private lives are no picnic either. And if the pub isn’t there, they’ll just go home and wind one another up on the internet anyhow.

But TJ is lonely, and cares about the newcomers, though he’s afraid at first to become too involved with their lives. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with Yara (Ebla Mari), a young Syrian woman who speaks English, having learned after two years of volunteering with nurses while living in the refugee camps. Yara has arrived in town with her mother and several younger siblings. They don’t know where their father is because he was taken from them by the Bashar al-Assad regime. Her life has been worse, by any measure, than those of the men in the pub — but it feels almost obscene to make the comparison.

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You’d know “The Old Oak” was directed by Ken Loach (from a screenplay by his long-running collaborator Paul Laverty) even if his name wasn’t in the credits. His late work is unmistakable, driven by fierce moral clarity and outrage on behalf of the people whom capitalism and Britain’s government, supposedly constructed for citizens’ benefit, have left behind. His previous film “Sorry We Missed You,” for instance, is a blindly infuriated (and infuriating) film about a father who takes a job as a delivery driver to make ends meet, only to discover that everything about this job is designed to prosper the owner but ruin his life and his family.

Loach’s style remains forthright, even blunt, with few cinematic flourishes (though it’s still beautiful, shot by the great Robbie Ryan) and with a secondary cast largely made up of nonprofessional actors. This can make his movies feel like cudgels, but in “The Old Oak” it works brilliantly; at moments, I caught myself thinking I was watching a documentary. The film isn’t based on any single true story, but on many, including those shared by the Syrian refugees who were settled into the poorest towns in northern England. Loach makes a conscious choice to resist constructing shots which might direct us to think of characters as demons or angels, a matter-of-factness that suggests that while these people retain individual moral agency, it is limited and constrained. They are players in a production where they don’t get to write the script, which doesn’t absolve the racism and inhospitality but does provide some clarity on where it’s coming from.

Midway through “The Old Oak,” TJ and Yara have cooked up a plan to build connections between the Syrians and the villagers. (Don’t worry: this is not some easy, Hollywood ending.) “This is about solidarity, not charity,” TJ explains, and I have been thinking about that line for days. It perfectly encapsulates what “The Old Oak” understands and what so many similar films miss. Charity sets up an inherent power differential: those who have, giving to those who don’t. It is a necessary part of creating a functioning society.

But a much stronger and more lasting force is solidarity, a unity built on common interests and objectives. In “The Old Oak,” a bit of charity is possible — resources brought in from churches and labor unions that have money and goods to spare. For the villagers, though, resources are already scarce. The memory of solidarity, however, runs through their veins, even if it’s been lost in their hometown’s decay. Recapturing it will change how they live together.

Will that fix their problems? No. It won’t, and Loach and Laverty know this. In place of magical thinking and a happy ending, “The Old Oak” serves up something harder: a meditation on hope. “I have a friend who calls hope obscene,” Yara tells TJ. “Maybe she’s right. But if I stop hoping, my heart will stop beating.”

Yara’s way of hoping lies in looking through her camera lens, a tool that, since before the camps, was her way to see the world differently. And everyone in town, captured through Yara’s camera, suddenly sees themselves differently: not as the selves they project onto social media or in gripe sessions, but as bearers of dignity.

Loach, who is 87, has said “The Old Oak” might be his final film. So it’s not hard to see what he sees in Yara. Her discussion of hope, of a camera as a tool to spot strength in those who are usually passed over or objectified, sounds as though it might be a thesis for his own life and work. Hope can seem obscene. But when it ends, so too does the life of the world.

The Old Oak Not Rated. Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes. In theaters.

Alissa Wilkinson is a Times movie critic. She’s been writing about movies since 2005. More about Alissa Wilkinson

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Io Capitano

• 4 out of 5 stars
• Recommended

Time Out says

Magic and misery are the compass points on Matteo Garrone’s widescreen migrant odyssey

Stark social drama meets boy’s own adventure in this strikingly photographed African-set, Oscar-nominated adventure. 

It’s a combination that should be very easy to get very wrong. In fact, it’s hard to think of too many filmmakers who have even tried it – at least since Vittorio De Sica’s Miracle in Milan (1951) mashed up neorealist grind and flying kids on broomsticks. But with Io Capitano , De Sica’s fellow Italian Matteo Garrone frames the sorrows and struggles of two African kids as they slog across the continent with steel and sensitivity. It’s wildly exciting in places, horrifying in others, without ever feeling exploitative of a real-world crisis that is claiming the lives of boys just like them.

The title literally translates as ‘Me, the captain' – a reference to a moment of heroism on a fateful boat journey that awaits the film’s protagonist, Senegalese teenager Seydou (Seydou Sarr). There are faint echoes of Captain Phillips ’ ‘I’m the captain now!’, uttered by Barkhad Abdi’s Somali pirate – although here all the pirates are on land. Seydou is what the western media would call ‘an economic migrant’. With his cousin Moussa (Moustapha Fall), he sets off from Dakar on an African odyssey that points hopefully for Italy, with dreams of a better life and money to send home, but only the vaguest notion of how he’ll achieve it. What he’s leaving behind – a horrified mum, loving siblings and a home – is a source of melancholy that lurks in the fabric of the film. 

Newcomer  Seydou Sarr gives  this hard-hitting drama a heart of gold

The feeling that Seydou and Moussa have made a fatal error hangs over their journey across the Sahara. It comes into horrific focus when a fellow traveller falls off their pick-up and the people smugglers drive on with supreme indifference. Just when things seem bleakest, as a woman who reminds Seydou of his mum dies under the baking Saharan sun, Garrone throws in an extraordinary grace note: the woman floats into the air and Seydou guides her onwards, as if carrying a balloon. 

Seydou’s reverie is quickly banished as the pair endure cavity searches at border crossings, constant shakedowns, and even torture at a mafia-run prison. Like wounded animals circled by vultures, Io Capitano shows how exploitation stalks them on every step of their journey, long before they get to Europe.  Garrone, who brought docudrama techniques to 2008’s ferocious gangster drama Gomorrah , could have made the same call here. Instead, he and cinematographer Paolo Carnera’s shimmering landscapes and editor Marco Spoletini’s brisk dissolves add beauty and pacy storytelling to this harsh journey. Best of all, though, is terrific newcomer Seydou Sarr, whose performance is full of guilelessness and spirit. He gives this hard-hitting drama a heart of gold. In UK cinemas Apr 5.

Cast and crew

• Director: Matteo Garrone
• Screenwriter: Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Andrea Tagliaferri, Massimo Ceccherini
• Moustapha Fall
• Seydou Sarr

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