Out of Sight (1998)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Starring George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheadle, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, Albert Brooks, Dennis Farina, Isaiah Washington, Catherine Keener, Keith Loneker, Michael Keaton, Nancy Allen, Luis Guzmán, Paul Calderón. [R]

Crackerjack adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s crime novel (from a Scott Frank screenplay) manages to pull off well-tooled precision without sacrificing wiles, wit, seduction, or sheen. Clooney’s bank robber breaks out of the clink and kidnaps Lopez’s U.S. Marshal on the fly during the getaway; sparks inevitably fly, and even after they go their separate ways, they can’t get each other out of their minds. Meanwhile, dangerous ex-con Cheadle cajoles his way into a diamond theft plot that Clooney hatched in prison, which lands the career criminal in an uncomfortable position between a rock and a hard place (indeed, he looked far more comfortable cuddled up with Lopez inside a car trunk). At the time, Soderbergh must have seemed a curious choice for a film project that coasts on a combination of unflappable cool and narrative helices, but same as his well-chosen cast, he never breaks a sweat. Though not exactly credible, and preoccupied with surface pleasures and rhythms to match David Holmes’ jazzy score, the movie never fails to entertain, and Clooney (who has chemistry to burn with his never-better-onscreen co-star) finally completes the transition from television actor to movie star. Viola Davis appears in a minor role; Samuel L. Jackson cameos at the end. Lopez’s character later got a short-lived spinoff TV show called “Karen Sisco” (played there by Carla Gugino).

86/100