Out of Sight (1998)

If Soderbergh has a style, it's bookish pacing and an undercurrent of realism in hyperbolic situations. His choices of scripts are uneven, if not typically on the bland side, but that's okay, because the writing is usually elevated by his choices in above-the-line crew (editing, cinematography, score) and knack for consolidating their work into a single voice. He also usually gets the best performances he can out of his actors, even if it means long hours or re-shoots. Out of Sight typifies this rocky marriage of stylistic integrity and dime store story. Soderbergh has called this film perhaps the most complete of his pictures, and in a structural self-contained way that might be true, but it is far from his best.Jack Foley (Clooney) is a man in his third act. A bank robber committed to his lifestyle, who following his third stint in the penitentiary, has lost any wide-eyed preconceptions he might have had about big scores settling all debts and landing him richly propped up on "some island". He drifts from job to job, annoyed but not surprised things are getting harder, looking not for a swansong, but more of the same. Yet the character is underwritten. He's a well-adjusted prisoner confident around and commanding the respect of tougher types, despite never having used a gun (even for show). He's a "good guy", who doesn't have a problem feeling up a woman at gunpoint, and doesn't worry over the safety of his partners in crime, except for Buddy (Rhames). Personality contradictions like these can be realistic, but they can also be bad writing. Karen Sisco (Lopez) has the same problem, a marshal who pursues men as bounties, lays, or if you're Jack Foley, both. Where does her allegiance lie? To everyone, apparently. Contradiction is the theme here, with former enemies in prison collaborating together on the outside, Buddy, whose commitment to a criminal lifestyle is intact only through a compulsion to confess for hours to his spiritual adviser/sister what he has just done, Sisco's investigator father who disapproves of one of his daughter's unsavory conquests, but not a more dangerous one - and so on. Contradictions may better mirror real life, but even in real life they are often frustrating to us pattern-recognizing humans who prefer to blur away such sharpness to make some sense of the world.The first half is told non-linearly; we see Foley and friends in prison, out, and back in again as we piece together the events that led them to the present, where sadly the story runs straight on until the end. It's a good trick to make an ordinary story more interesting and invests the audience in finding out what is essentially mundane detail, but once it behaves itself it gets far less interesting. There is some plot about uncut diamonds that everyone thinks is true despite telling each other is a lie, but this is secondary to character studies where the characters have no arc and wind up exactly where they were at the beginning.Still, all would be well if these characters, in the end, still felt like real people. Both Foley and Sisco are for the most part written too soft and fluffy for how hard they are supposed to be. This isn't the fault of Lopez or Clooney, although if they did have a choice which way to play it, both certainly went with cotton candy here. Still, this is some of their best acting, as are the performances from Cheedle, Rhames, Guzmán - at the time none of them exactly A-list, but certainly at their peak. One is tempted to say Rhames and Guzmán have become all but typecast in this kind of role, which is a shame, as are Lopez/Clooney's unfortunate excursions into broad, unsubstantial rom/coms.There is a tonal discrepancy marring the picture as well. It is an odd choice that nearly all of the humor is delivered by the most despicable characters, and it comes right before or after they do or were to do rape/murder. It worked in Pulp Fiction, where we see everyone both at their worst and their best, but in Soderbergh's film these are tertiary people who we differentiate in relation to each other rather than their actions and whose names we barely remember scene-to-scene, and whose only redeeming qualities are the two minutes they play the clown before going back to playing the monster. It's just jarring. I'm not sure how much creative control Soderbergh had over the Leonard story, but I wish he had subjected it to rewrites. There is some light entertainment here, but Out of Sight is not so much flawed as rough, like uncut diamonds decorating a fish tank. 6/10

Steven Soderbergh's Out Of Sight is an excellent low key crime caper, and my personal favourite adaptation of an Elmore Leonard Book. It has that easy, laconic, dialogue heavy yet not too dense way about it that just makes for easy watching. George Clooney, all effortless cool and swagger, plays Jack, an ex con who crosses paths with Federal Marshall Karen Sisco, a no nonsense girl who gradually finds herself attracted to Jack. Lopez is underrated as an actress and I get excited every time she has the chance to give a good genre turn (The Cell, U Turn). Their chemistry on screen is electric, especially in one sequence where they are locked in a car trunk, casually discussing movies as they each begin to become more comfortable in each other's presence. Leonard, also penning the books which would go on to become Jackie Brown, Get Shorty and FX's Justified, works with a naturalistic, free flowing form when creating his characters, and it's wonderful to see unfold on screen. Dennis Farina is sympathetic as Lopez's father, Michael Keaton shows up as another Marshall, and their is solid work from Steve Zahn, Don Cheadle, Albert Brooks, and a surprise cameo right in the end. In the world of romantic, easy going crime capers, this one stands out as memorable, bittersweet, and above all, fun.

I can see why "Out of Sight" is one of George Clooney's favourite films on his resume. Even though it didn't do very well box-office wise, it is a really good film with a great screenplay. Based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard and excellently directed by Steven Soderbergh it's a joy.Plot In A Paragraph: An escaped convict (George Clooney) takes a female US Marshall (Jennifer Lopez) hostage whilst making a get away. They share an instant mutual attraction and it's not long before their paths cross again.Clooney and Lopez make a very sexy couple and the famous trunk scene is superb. I can't praise the cast enough of this movie enough here. George Clooney is at his charismatic best. Ving Rhames is solid support while Jennifer Lopez who I'm not really a fan of looks gorgeous and does a good job acting wise. Dennis Farina pops up as her Dad, and is as reliable as he always is. Michael Keaton reprises his role from "Jackie Brown" and seems to be having a lot of fun doing do so. Steve Zahn does his usual Steve Zahn routine, but here it works. Don Cheadle is also very good. This is the first collaboration between Soderbergh and star George Clooney, and give how well they worked together it's no surprise they re teamed several more times.

I'm not usually a Soderbergh fan. I usually find him half-baked and half-interested in what he's doing. But Out Of Sight is his most pristine and complete picture. That doesn't necessarily equate to a winner, but with Elmore Leonard's source material, it's thoroughly entertaining and slick. From Get Shorty and Justified, his style has such an endearingly casual way to approach a colourful network of energetic and morally grey characters that it's just a joy to watch even in sinister moments. Their presence may be fleeting, but they add to the personality. Working off the back of George Clooney's charm here helps, firmly establishing his typecast role for a while of handsome crook. He does it well is why. But he has a hell of a cast behind him full of familiar faces. However, beyond the intricate plotting and witty dialogue, what makes Out Of Sight special is the thoughtful editing. Usually when a film designs its structure over cutting back and forth without justification it can be jarring, but here it adds so much texture to the film, especially in a memorable intimate scene between Clooney and J-Lo. Leonard's words is what makes the film delicious subversive and engaging, but it's Soderbergh's tight touch that does it justice. Definitely worthy of its cult status over the years and most likely his finest work. 8/10