Other adaptations of Elmore Leonard novels include Barry Sonnenfeld's overrated Get Shorty and Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, which was based on Leonard's Rum Punch. The manly George Clooney might be enough to win Soderbergh recognition.Critics just can't take a shine to Steven Soderbergh. After serious acclaim for his 1989 breakthrough, sex, lies and videotape, the director has met avoidance, condemnation and, at best, a smattering of support for his multifarious catalog of films. Why is he so unfairly judged? Perhaps because he makes films that he just feels like making. Soderbergh is an anomaly in Hollywood: A director with an independent vision, he makes films that reflect his varied interests. He can jump from a moody piece about Kafka to a film noir remake of Criss Cross (The Underneath) to an obsessive visit with Spalding Gray (Gray'sAnatomy) to the wacked-out world of Schizopolis. Like the multitalented director Robert Wise (whose work ranges from noir masterpiece The Set-Up to the terrifying The Haunting to the musical West Side Story to Star Trek: The Motion Picture), Soderbergh has the agility to explore new terrain without becoming a hack for hire. His films are intelligent, visually stimulating and solid. Soderbergh's newest effort, Out of Sight, should win him the accolades he so greatly deserves. Whip-smart, sexy and witty, Out of Sight is easily one of the best films of the summer. It is also the best Elmore Leonard adaptation to date. The picture opens with escaped convict Jack Foley (George Clooney) holding up a bank with the casual effortlessness of Cary Grant sliding diamonds off Grace Kelly's neck. He says to the teller, "First time you're being robbed? You're doing great. Just smile, Loretta." Then he walks out the door and nonchalantly gets into his car, but--damn!--it doesn't start. Back to prison he goes. Foley escapes again for a rendezvous with his friend Buddy Bragg (Ving Rhames), who is waiting for him in a getaway car. But Bragg is not alone. Deputy Federal Marshal Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez) has observed Foley's unscheduled departure. Bragg freaks out, stuffs Sisco and Foley in his trunk and takes off. Crammed together in the trunk, the two learn that they both like movies and that they have some serious sexual chemistry. The couple's provocative situation is one of the many wonderfully erotic sequences within this goofy crime movie. By shooting the moment in the trunk, Soderbergh focuses on the spark between the couple. When people get so close to each other--and in such a bizarre manner--it doesn't matter what side of the law they are on: In the trunk they are a handsome, charming man and a sexy, smart woman. It doesn't hurt that this man and woman are played by Clooney and Lopez. Clooney, vastly underrated in From Dusk Till Dawn, exudes every quality we liked about him to begin with (but then got sick of), especially a smart-alecky manliness that doesn't become mean or egotistical. Whatever Soderbergh did or didn't do for the actor worked tremendously; we're not sick of him here. No Matt Damon or Leonardo DiCaprio, Clooney is a man. And Lopez is all woman. Supported by an ensemble of greats (including Dennis Farina, Don Cheadle and Albert Brooks), she is never out of her element and meshes nicely with the complementary set of characters who, nefarious or not, are likable and compelling. Just like Soderbergh's movie. Each sequence is buoyant, perfectly timed and charged with sex appeal. In one of the best sex scenes ever filmed, Lopez and Clooney make it without obvious, sheet-clutching passion. Instead, they consummate the verbal and physical connection that they established when their eyes and bodies first met. Soderbergh intercuts this scene with dialogue that undresses the characters while they are actually undressing themselves. We look and listen and don't know what is more important, the sex or the talking. It's so enjoyable and overwhelming that we give up and let it flow, which is exactly how passion should be displayed. Soderbergh also approaches Leonard exactly as he should be filmed--smart. Soderbergh's flexibility with material, wacky sensibilities and confident calm make Out of Sight play like Leonard reads: fast, frivolous and happy. With Soderbergh at the helm, Out of Sight takes off like a firecracker--shooting every which way with its plots and subplots, scams and seductions--and then ends with a glorious finale that will keep you buzzing for days. Perfect Leonard. Perfect Soderbergh. Now can the director get a little more respect? continued from page 69Soderbergh's flexibility with material, wacky sensibilities and confident calm make Out of Sight play like Leonard reads: fast, frivolous and happy. |
