Out of Sight
**This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Steven Soderbergh was a filmmaker whom many saw as floundering after his Sundance sensation, “sex, lies and videotape” by the time he made “Out of Sight.” But if you watch “Kafka,” “King of the Hill” and “The Underneath,” even if some of the films have flaws, they are very clearly the work of a filmmaker playing around with film form, honing his craft in a variety of genres and modes of storytelling. With “Out of Sight,” the next chapter of his career began, but even though it wasn’t a huge hit when it came out in 1998, those who watched it definitely recognized the talent he had on display. It also meant the beginning of his collaboration with George Clooney, and having a movie actor on the rise (despite the “Batman & Robin” debacle) didn’t hurt.
This also marked the middle section of Hollywood’s run of adapting Elmore Leonard novels for the screen, and- many of say (not incorrectly)- the high watermark of Leonard adaptations. I think I still prefer Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown,” but watching “Out of Sight” again for the first time in several years, I found myself sliding smoothly back into the world that Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Frank create in this film. That first moment with Jack Foley (Clooney) where he throws away the tie (to be explained later). The bank robbery, and how he is caught. Him breaking out of prison, and his accomplice, Buddy (Ving Rhames), stealing a car. And the introduction of Karen Sisco, the US Marshal played by Jennifer Lopez. And then, the trunk scene between Foley and Sisco, with the chemistry between Clooney and Lopez hitting astonishing levels of sex appeal, and they’re just talking. The movie then becomes something else, and when we saw it in 1998- those of us who did see it- we knew we were in for something special.
Plot matters when it comes to Leonard adaptations, but not nearly as much as how the writer of the screenplay builds the characters, and the actors perform them. In all of the great Leonard adaptations we got- this, “Jackie Brown” and “Get Shorty” (also adapted by Scott Frank)- the moments that stick out to audiences aren’t the ones dealing with the details of the story, but the nuances surrounding interpersonal relationships. Chili Palmer watching “Touch of Evil,” or appreciating Karen Flores’s work in her Z-grade monster movies. Jackie and Max Cherry in the former’s apartment. The dinner between Jack and Karen where they take a “time out” from being on both sides of the law, and have dinner, and a night together, before getting back to their respective roles in the story. So many filmmakers are more interested in the intricacies of the plot when it comes to crime stories, but the great ones recognize that it’s moments like these that are more important. The story will progress how it progresses; the small moments between characters determine whether we care about that story or not.
In this film, we see Soderbergh’s visual pallet settle in, whether it’s his use of freeze frames leading into cuts, the natural lighting that would expand with use of filters in his Oscar-winning “Traffic,” the way he glides in and out of flashback sequences, and use of framing that feels more pronounced than it did previously in his work. It’s all so natural in this film, and the work cinematographer Elliot Davis and editor Anne V. Coates do is remarkable every step of the way. Couple that with a score by David Holmes and this film just pops every step along the way. But where the film shines is the acting. This is still among the best work Clooney and Lopez have ever done. I love seeing previous Leonard adaptation actors like Dennis Farina, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Keaton (the only one returning as his previous character) in this film- in particular, the dynamic between Farina and Lopez and father and daughter is wonderful. Rhames is the coolest sidekick anyone could ask for, but Buddy is not a one-dimensional character; there’s a genuine bond formed between these two. I love Steve Zahn’s stone criminal, Don Cheadle’s ice-cold former boxer, and Albert Brooks as the Wall Street jackoff they all conspire to steal from. Everything in this film is just a treat from moment to moment. Twenty five years later, “Out of Sight” can officially be called one of the best crime films of all-time.
