Out of Sight (1998)
Out of Sight (1998), directed by Steven Soderbergh.
A quirky bank robber escaped from prison and a lovely US Marshal pursuing him: you think they have a chance at love? Maybe, with difficulty. Briefly.
This has a lot going for it, starting with the beautiful leads. George Clooney fully employs his clever and masculine star-power wattage, and Jennifer Lopez is gorgeous, witty and appealing.
She may actually be too pretty to be a working Marshal, but says she doesn't mind being a girl and can obviously handle herself. I'm surprised she doesn't mess up Jack and Buddy a bit more during her kidnapping. And I can't imagine a Marshal surrendering her weapon in real life, for any reason.
Great talent in the rest of the cast. Don Cheadle is scary and clever. Isaiah Washington is nothing but scary until we see him grieving for his dog and the end of his boxing career. He could have been a contender.
Dennis Farina, Luis Guzmán and Steve Zahn are hilarious. Zahn's "Glenn" is a harmless soul among sharks who is broken by the violence he sees. More of this in the deleted scenes: I'm glad they cut it.
Fine color and composition, hip bouncy score.
And finally, all made possible by Elmore Leonard's plot and stylish mix of cops and crooks, humor and grimness.
Misc notes:
The flashback structure is a bit confusing: we have several scenes of two different prison stints, both introduced just the first time.
In reviewing Three Days of the Condor (1975) I wrote that the quick love affair between Redford and Dunaway was implausible. When locked in the car trunk Foley and Sisco talk about the film for just that reason: he hopes the fantasy can be true, she's more skeptical.
Both Sisco and Foley have their goofy sides -- especially him -- but in the hotel bar and her room they turn entirely serious.
The director says the editing of the love scene was stolen from Don't Look Now (1973).
He sometimes color-codes his locations, as in Traffic (2000) where Mexico was yellow-brown, the US east coast cool blue, etc. I found it distracting there but more acceptable here. Florida is bright and sunny, Detroit dirty blue-steel.
There was a short-lived Karen Sisco TV series which I hear was pretty good (which must be why they killed it).
Folks: if you shot a gun while locked in a car trunk your ears would be bleeding.
Did the home invaders really think they could open a safe by shooting at it? What did they think a safe was for?
From a book by Elmore Leonard. He continues the adventures of Jack Foley in Road Dogs, wrapping up the Sisco plot-line right away: at his hearing she slants her testimony to help him. "No, I did not feel I was being kidnapped. He was moving me away from the gunfire for my safety, etc". And that's the end of their affair. Jack gets early parole and goes to California.
Available on Blu-ray with an excellent image. Chatty commentary track with the director and screenwriter. Deleted scenes (where we learn that gum Sisco chews must be Nicorette) and a making-of feature.
