People that are too perfect can do damage 
The director of the excellent One False Move and underrated Devil In A Blue Dress delivers a sprightly, slick noir thriller in Out Of Time. He discusses Denzel Washington, perfect people, and studio stupidity...
What appealed to you about Out Of Time?
I liked the taint on all the characters. Everybody's not perfect, which was fun. I liked the urgency that kicks in once you get into the second act, the compression of time. And I liked the challenge of a man hiding in plain sight - what it demanded of me and my skills. It was different from what I'd done.
Many of your movies - One False Move, Devil In A Blue Dress - are about fallible men...
Oh yeah. I think that actually the other kind of stories are destructive in some ways. You get people that are too perfect, especially when they're supposed to be realistic people. That I think can do damage. I'm a fan of the movies of the 70s and characters of the 30s. Because they're so unpredictable.
Not something you see often in modern Hollywood...
We've worked ourselves into this very moralistic environment now, where everything has got to be a happy ending and the hero's got to be the take-charge guy and all of that. You can actually go into a movie and pretty much predict everything that's going to happen. Look at something like Lost In Translation, which I was crazy about. It broke all the rules. You can't do a movie like that in a studio today. I like movies that give you some surprises, that give you a chance to go some place.
What do you think of the state of Hollywood?
You know, the way the industry treats film now is very much like if you put your child to bed and they tell you what story they want you to tell and they tell you how it has to end. You know what I mean? As opposed to when you were a child and you discovered the story and it takes you wherever it takes you and expands you in some way. If you already know what it is, you just go in and get reconfirmed and that's not necessarily good.
Do you have a good working relationship with Denzel Washington?
It's a pretty good working relationship, yeah. Of course stars greenlight movies now so it was very helpful in terms of getting it made. It was essential.
Out Of Time is released in UK cinemas on Friday 26th December 2003.
