Out of Sight, Steven Soderbergh's exhilarating adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel was hardly Hollywood’s first go-round with the author. Since the 1950s, Leonard's writings have fueled over a dozen movies and TV shows, but his action-packed, unsentimental work found particular favor in the 1990s.
Like its immediate predecessors, Barry Levinson's Get Shorty and Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, 1998's Out of Sight found both critical and commercial favor, even spawning an ABC series inspired by Jennifer Lopez's character, Karen Sisco.
George Clooney, then best known as Doug Ross on ER, plays charmingly ill-starred bank robber Jack Foley, who meets Karen, an expensively-dressed federal marshal, at the most inopportune time. When she gets wind of a breakout at a Glade, Florida correctional facility, she prepares to bring the perpetrators in. However, things don't go as planned. She and Foley end up in the trunk of a car repurposed by his ex-con associate, Buddy (Ving Rhames), as a getaway vehicle. In best screwball fashion, irritation and discomfort give way to attraction as the two bond over 1970s thrillers, like Three Days of the Condor.
Once Karen breaks free, with an assist from Foley's stoner buddy, Glenn (a scene-stealing Steve Zahn), she sets out to bring the fugitive to justice--even as she can't stop daydreaming about a different kind of relationship. It starts with a near miss at a Miami hotel when Foley waves to her from an elevator, and continues to Detroit where he arrives to get in on a score overseen by ex-con Maurice "Snoop" Miller (a hilariously menacing Don Cheadle, stars of Soderbergh's Detroit-set No Sudden Move).
After a series of encounters involving her FBI boyfriend Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton, reprising his role in Jackie Brown), Foley's magician's assistant ex-wife Adele (Catherine Keener), and magic act-obsessed prison escapee Chino (Luis Guzmán), Karen follows Foley to the Motor City. Other notable players include her loving father (Dennis Farina), her incredulous attorney (Wendell B. Harris, director of Chameleon Street), and Ripley (Albert Brooks in ill-fitting toupé), the target of the heist.
Everything comes to a head in Ripley's mansion--but not until after Karen and Foley have finally given in to their desire in an inventively-edited interlude. If a few characters don’t make it out alive, Soderbergh skillfully toggles between humor, action, and suspense until the cops show up to draw things to a close. The epilogue, a witty invention by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Scott Frank (Get Shorty), features a welcome cameo by a trickster with a wry sense of humor.
Compared to previous Leonard adaptations, Out of Sight doesn't offer anything radically new, but it revealed Soderbergh--after a string of box office disappointments--in full command of his craft, aided by a stellar cast with powerful chemistry, evocative cinematography from Elliot Davis, fluid editing from Anne V. Coates, and an irresistible score from David Holmes. As with Charade and The Thomas Crown Affair in an earlier era, it's an essential purchase for caper collections.
What type of library programming could use this title?
Library programming involving the work of Steven Soderbergh and Elmore Leonard could benefit from this title.
What kind of film series would this fit in?
Film programmers for cinemas and non-theatrical venues should consider this title for a series dedicated to crime comedies and the work of Steven Soderbergh.
What public library shelves would this title be on?
Out of Sight belongs with thriller, crime comedy, and heist films in public libraries.