The ladies are skipping happy hour after work today
to live vicariously through Sanaa Lathan as her and Mr.
Washington heat up the screen in his latest thriller
“Out Of Time.” We featured Lathan Monday,
and since that time we’ve gotten more info
on the film.
It seems that Sanaa held out on the details
more than we thought. Ms. Lathan may be a bit
scandalous in this film while Denzel is being a sucker
for her love. But, not only does he have Sanaa in the
film, he also has the lovely Eva Mendes who was
also with him in “Training Day.”
During the Lathan feature, we mentioned that
Denzel would handle the age issue of his co-stars and
himself later in the week. There’s been some criticism
of Denzel starring opposite Sanaa and Eva because
of that obvious age difference. The movie is set in
a steamy tropical town called Banyan Key, Fla.,
just down the road from Miami and everything
in this movie gets hot.
Sanaa plays Anne Merai Harrison, Denzel’s married
high school sweetheart who is in a troubled marriage and
having an affair with Denzel. Eva plays Alex Diaz-Whitlock,
Denzel’s estranged wife, who has risen to the rank of
detective on the police force. She is assigned to investigate
a double homicide with Denzel, who plays Matt Lee
Whitlock, in the sleepy town of Banyan Key,
where he is the beloved chief of police.
Denzel let us know that Sanaa was a professional
and jumped right in with her main man.
“We screen tested 4 women. The screen test was
when you first see me come to her house and that was
the only sexy scene we did,” said Denzel. “So the
ice was broken.”
Denzel also mentioned that he isn’t making the
same mistakes he’s made in the past with his wife
Pauletta. He now forewarns his wife of the sultry
scenes that he must struggle through (wink
wink). He’s learned from past experience.
“In ‘Mississippi Masala,’ I made the mistake of
not showing [my wife] the film and we went to the
premiere,” explained Denzel. “It wasn’t a good day.”
If nothing else about that movie jogs your memory,
certainly the erotic hotel room scene will ring a bell.
“I guess she feels she should know before Joe
Blow or whoever is snickering,” said Denzel. “This
movie ['Out of Time'] she saw months back in
January or so.”
In case you’re wondering, the ages of these celebs
are: Sanaa Lathan, 32; Denzel Washington, 48; and
Eva Mendes, 29. Denzel explains that age should
not be a barrier for him or anyone else in Hollywood.
“If I was 71, that would be a little strange,” laughed
Denzel. “I did some interviews the other day and this one
lady kept harping on it saying, ‘I don’t think it’s right. I don’t
think it’s right,’ explained Washington. “I’m playing in a movie,
‘The Manchurian Candidate,’ and Meryl Streep plays Liev
Schreiber’s mom and I know she’s not old enough to be
his mom, so should she not get the part? Should it be
someone who is old enough? It’s funny how it’s
convenient when it needs to be.”
Some people wanted to know if Denzel had anything
to do with the choosing of his young, sexy co-stars.
“I had nothing to do with that decision other than
signing off once the decision was made,” said Denzel. “Carl
[Franklin - the director] called me and said, ‘You know, I got
the girl and I think she’s great. I just wanna run it by you
and see what you think.’ I said, ‘Who?’ And he said,
‘Eva Mendes.’ And I said, ‘Oh! She is great.’"
Denzel is more of a mentor for his co-stars than anything
else. He is trying to make a difference for those coming
along after him.
“I just like to see people do well. I like to see Derek
Luke ('Antwone Fisher') walking around here a year later
in suits more expensive than mine,” he said. “And seeing
Sanaa, and Eva and Dean Cain do well, that makes me
happy.”
It seems Denzel isn’t worrying about the age thing.
His audience isn’t shrinking and his looks definitely are not
fading. The reviews have been generally pretty good for his
newest thriller, so the only thing left to do is to run to the
theatre before you run ... out of time. --- J.C. Brooks
Editor's Note: Speaking of reviews, EUR/EURweb's
new column, The Screening Room, gives "Out of Time"
four out a possible five stars. Here's Cherie Saunders
review:
The new Carl Franklin film
“Out of Time” [****]
is mandatory viewing. It’s Denzel Washington as Police Chief
Matt Whitlock, Sanaa Lathan as the married woman he’s seeing,
Dean Cain as Sanaa’s abusive husband and Eva Mendez as
Denzel’s separated wife on the verge of a divorce-slash-Federal
agent called in to oversee Whitlock’s investigation into a double
-murder. They all dance on a hotbed of sex, murder, false
accusations, oppressive heat, and did I mention sex?
Chief Whitlock is more like Chief Suspect in the double
murder and must work at a furious pace to hide his secret
sexual involvement with one of the victims while trying
to find the real killer.
Cherie has MORE reviews and news in the
Screening Room.
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