Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Soderbergh rounded up a superb ensemble of actors with G. Clooney (in his most dashing) as Jack, and J-Lo (in her most acclaimed performance yet) as Karen, the U.S. Marshall who gets abducted after Jack's prison break attempt, a romantic pair well complemented by a variety of supporting players. Rhames and Zahn are charmingly amusing as the religious and genial Buddy and the inept dope-head Glenn, respectively, two friends that Jack met in prison. Cheadle's character Maurice which is a foil to Clooney's affable Jack is more annoying than really threatening but an amusing in its own way with his henchmen Washington as Kenneth and Loneker as White Boy Bob which are kind of one-dimentional in just being border-line farcical tools, but that kind of works and were crucial elements that helped the film's success. A joy to watch as well are Farina as Karen's endearing father and Brooks and the hard-pressed Ripley, a disreputable businessman both Jack and Maurice met while serving time in prison. Keener, Guzman, Allen, Jackson, Davis, and the Keaton character whose cameo is a priceless gem which happens to be the same one the underrated actor did in another Elmore Leonard novel-turned-film, Jackie Brown. Each and every one were consistently remarkable in their understatedness but still manages to be such memorable characters owing, of course, to Leonard's crafty achievement in developing the narrative. The subtle success of this film also has something to do with the sumptuous cinematography, the unobtrusive musical score and the brilliant use of the non-linear storytelling accomplished through excellent editorial decisions made, which is kind of a Soderbergh signature, all executed seamlessly by the film editor to focus more on the Jack character. And then the highlight of the film and serves as the film's centerpiece is the one where Jack and Karen meets in a hotel bar and their conversation which is eventually intercut with the flash-forward intimate scenes between the two leads, all of which is an elegant exercise in cinematic homage to that notoriously sensual scene in Roeg's Don't Look Now between the married characters of actors Sutherland and Christie. And for Soderbergh to bridge the thematic issues that both these films share is a shrewd move. Though it seems to be unoriginal, all he did was to cling his film to that psych-thriller, and in that regard he comes out triumphant. Only a classy film deserves to be mentioned side-by-side the DuMaurier film adaptation. Connecting this film through the use of that technique, the one Roeg implemented if not pioneer in the 1973 film, and I say it by no means with any disrespect to Roeg and his gang, Soderberg and his crew kind of owned it for a while.A cinematic fine wine to savor and appreciate every now and then. My rating: A-plus.

Career bank robber Jack Foley (George Clooney) busts out of jail with the help of his old friend and ex-prison inmate Buddy Bragg (Ving Rhames). The pair plan to pull off one last job by robbing Richard Ripley (Albert Brooks) who is one of Foley's ex-prison mates, but complications ensue when Foley falls for Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez) a US Marshal tasked with bringing him in and another former prison inmate Snoopy Maurice Miller (Don Cheadle) also decides that he is going to rob Ripley as well...Out Of Sight is a promising little film that is alive and energetic (for about the first 10 minutes), but sadly it just isn't able to sustain this kind of momentum throughout its rather generous 120 minute running time...Although it's clearly a major part of the story I personally thought that the idea of a US Marshal falling in love with a career bank robber was completely ridiculous, but I might have found this scenario enjoyable if it had been played out in an amusing and entertaining manner. The fact that we're actually meant to take it serious is preposterous and if I'm honest this aspect alone sucked most of the life out of the film. Some of J Lo and Clooney's scenes together seem to show evidence of a director who may have been more in love with the leads than they were with themselves. In fact to call some of it 'self-indulgent' would be an understatement.Out Of Sight is another film with a non-linear narrative which again isn't a problem for me, but I did feel that certain scenes were included that served no real purpose in the story; the character of Snoopy Miller is given quite a large backstory from when he was in prison and about him being a boxer and how he met Foley etc. Yes I get that Miller is relevant to the story, but what relevance did all of the above have to the story? Would it have made any difference if Miller and Foley simply met on the outside? To me a lot of this felt like padding and I just felt that if Soderbergh stretched this film anymore it would snap. The same thing could be said for Michael Keaton who shows up in the film for about 10 minutes in a worthless role that added absolutely nothing to the film (it was an uncredited role according to IMDb).I'm always prepared to forgive some flaws within a film if it is either interesting or entertaining, but Out Of Sight doesn't even fulfil these basic needs. What story there is seems to be pretty much forgotten until about the last 15 minutes and prior to this you're left with an uninteresting and jarring narrative and J Lo and Clooney either stalking each other or making doe eyes at each other. The only things really running in this film's favour is Clooney and Rhames' chemistry and the film also benefits from good performances from the principal cast (particularly Rhames and Cheadle who rarely disappoint).Out Of Sight is pedestrian, meandering, sluggish and dull and even the sight of an impossibly attractive J Lo being in this film isn't enough for me to be able to recommend it.

Director Steven Soderbergh and writer Scott Frank mix up the sequencing of the usually straightforward-to-a-fault novelist Elmore Leonard but that's about the only thing that sets it apart from other films taken from Leonard works. I have not read the novel on which the film is based but Frank's script hews closely to the Leonard oeuvre in its utter predictability in character, plotting and the sophisticated banter between criminals and cops that lacks any real world credibility. George Clooney plays an escaped bank robber who develops a relationship with the federal marshal (Jennifer Lopez) on his trail. (Typical of Leonard's cool cucumbers, the word "love" is never mentioned.) Soderbergh seems to be seeking the same kind of off-kilter, casual chemistry between his leads that Stanley Donen was able to find with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in "Charade" but Clooney and Lopez don't seem to jell--they seem to be nervous around each other. When they meet-cute in the trunk of a getaway car, it should be a tense and electric moment the film can expand from but instead comes off as awkward and strained with Lopez in particular unsure of how to react. The rest of their interactions are spent trying to recover from that failed moment. As usual, Soderbergh knows how to entertain his viewers with visual flair; he gets great support from Anne V. Coates' fluid editing and while Elliot Davis' camera-work is not as eloquent as Soderbergh's own, it does have its flashes, particularly in the night scenes. Lopez and Clooney are surrounded by a powerhouse cast that includes Don Cheadle, Ving Rhames, Dennis Farina, Albert Brooks, Steve Zahn, Luis Guzman, a wasted Michael Keaton, an uncredited Samuel L. Jackson and a young Viola Davis (heck, even Nancy Allen is in there) and the film has its game moments, but the sum of its' parts are better than the whole.

I was told that this was a really good movie, but after seeing a number of superb movies in the cinema recently, and more on video, I began to not expect too much from it. I did not get that much from the movie, but it was reasonably good considering some of the movies that I could have hired (though Object of My Affection is an overnight and I really don't want to pay $3 for it when it is supposed to be an inferior copy of Chasing Amy).Out of Sight is about a superb bankrobber named Jack Foley. He is a very intelligent robber as he gets the money without having to use violence. Instead he bluffs making his victim believe that there are armed men nearby even though there are not. The robbery that we see is evidence of that, and we later discover that he robs this bank without any planning whatsoever. The problem is that his car won't start and he gets caught - but that is only a minor inconvenience to Jack Foley as he manages to escape using a failed escape attempt as a cover. Unfortunately, he is confronted by a federal marshal, Karen Sisco, whom he kidnaps and escapes with.This is where the major plot turns up. Jack falls in love with Karen and vice versa. Both know that this is a difficult relationship, one being a federal marshal and the other being an escaped criminal. In fact this is aiding and abetting a known felon - but nobody other than Jack and his confidant and Karen's father know of this relationship.This movie is about relationships - that which exists between Karen and Jack - and the struggle that they face to come to terms with it. I guess it is an old story: two lovers who cannot love because of who they are. This dates back to Romeo and Juliet. Even though it is old, it is an intelligent plot as there is no clear cut solution. Karen knows her job, but she also knows her feelings for Jack. The bedroom scene is one that adds to the character of Karen as she begins to doubt Jack's sincerity, believing he is only doing it for a dare, but he is not. We know Jack and we know that this is not a simple one night stand for him.Jack is really a noble character. He is a bank robber, but he does not use violence, and in fact he has never fired a gun. He is also a very intelligent and observant character. When he sees the accountant in gaol who has a lot of money sequestered away, he protects him believing that he will benefit afterwards. He doesn't ask for money, but rather relies on his generosity - which turns out to be non-existent when he throws a security uniform at Jack and tells him to work his way up from the bottom.I guess, when I think about it, this is a very good movie as it develops the characters and gives them life. I like intelligent and honourable criminals, namely because I have never met one - I guess it is one of those fictions that don't really exist. The characters have their strengths and flaws and each of them is developed independently. The movie focuses on Jack and Karen, but the others, including Snoop (who is a bad guy in the movie) and Jack's confidant are also well rounded characters. What is interesting is the sister of Jack's confidant. She is a born-again Christian and Jack's Confidant tells her everything. She does turn him in, if the crime has not yet been committed, but he seems to owe her something.