This is one of those innocent man in trouble stories that Alfred Hitchcock use to make but even with all the plot contrivances this is still a pretty entertaining film that benefits from the star power of it's lead actor. Story takes place in Banyon Key, Florida where we see Police Chief Matt Whitlock (Denzel Washington) who is going through a divorce and having an affair with his high school sweetheart Ann Harrison (Sanaa Lathan) who is married. Ann's husband Chris (Dean Cain) suspects that Matt and his wife are seeing each other and they have many volatile confrontations. Ann is diagnosed with terminal cancer so Matt gives her $500,000 of impounded drug money from the stations safe and he plans on replacing it with the money from an insurance policy where Ann has named him as the benefactor.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
Suddenly Ann and Chris die in a fire and Matt's wife Alexandra (Eva Mendes) is the homicide detective put in charge and after trailing after her on her investigation he learns that Ann never had cancer and the doctor that handled her case is a phony. Also, the feds show up and want the impounded money so now Matt must play a cat and mouse game with both the feds and his wife. Alexandra doesn't suspect her Chief of Police husband but after a while the clues finally start to point to him.
This film is directed by Carl Franklin who has worked with Washington before on "Devil in a Blue Dress" and he's a good and capable director that always creates good atmosphere in his films and this is no exception. The hot and steamy location in Florida helps establish a tense momentum to the story and it definitely has a modern film noir feel to it. There are many things in the script that are just impossible to believe but it doesn't hamper the tension that is created by both Franklin and Washington. Mendes is unconvincing as both a homicide detective in charge and as the wife. The final scene in the film where she comes back to Washington is preposterous and you would think that after learning about all the wrong things that he has committed would just convince her that he is wrong to be around. But no, Hollywood just has to tack on one of those goofy feel good endings that defy logic! But this is still pretty entertaining and Washington's screen persona can make even the most silly of films watchable and one cannot help but root for him even though he bungles about making obvious bad decisions. Another good performance in the film comes from John Billingsley as the medical examiner Chae and we should all be so lucky as to have someone like him watching our backs. The highlight of the film is watching Washington sneak about trying to hide phone records and running out of back doors to beat his wife to the scene of investigations. Story is full of implausibilities and contrivances but with a good performance by Washington and solid direction by Franklin it's perfectly okay to overlook it's flaws and still be entertained.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
Suddenly Ann and Chris die in a fire and Matt's wife Alexandra (Eva Mendes) is the homicide detective put in charge and after trailing after her on her investigation he learns that Ann never had cancer and the doctor that handled her case is a phony. Also, the feds show up and want the impounded money so now Matt must play a cat and mouse game with both the feds and his wife. Alexandra doesn't suspect her Chief of Police husband but after a while the clues finally start to point to him.
This film is directed by Carl Franklin who has worked with Washington before on "Devil in a Blue Dress" and he's a good and capable director that always creates good atmosphere in his films and this is no exception. The hot and steamy location in Florida helps establish a tense momentum to the story and it definitely has a modern film noir feel to it. There are many things in the script that are just impossible to believe but it doesn't hamper the tension that is created by both Franklin and Washington. Mendes is unconvincing as both a homicide detective in charge and as the wife. The final scene in the film where she comes back to Washington is preposterous and you would think that after learning about all the wrong things that he has committed would just convince her that he is wrong to be around. But no, Hollywood just has to tack on one of those goofy feel good endings that defy logic! But this is still pretty entertaining and Washington's screen persona can make even the most silly of films watchable and one cannot help but root for him even though he bungles about making obvious bad decisions. Another good performance in the film comes from John Billingsley as the medical examiner Chae and we should all be so lucky as to have someone like him watching our backs. The highlight of the film is watching Washington sneak about trying to hide phone records and running out of back doors to beat his wife to the scene of investigations. Story is full of implausibilities and contrivances but with a good performance by Washington and solid direction by Franklin it's perfectly okay to overlook it's flaws and still be entertained.