My parents took me to see Out of Sight in theaters when I was 12. We had odd movie excursions, what can I say? Anyway, I'm happy that it was the first Soderbergh film I saw because I believe it's one of his better ones. Sex, Lies, and Videotape is good, Magic Mike is perfect in a completely different way, and the Ocean's movies are entertaining trash but Out of Sight is wonderfully fun and subtle.
There's so much about this movie that I enjoy - it's probably the best thing I've ever seen Jennifer Lopez ever do (SO much better than all the rom-coms she's been in since, for sure), George Clooney is predictably smarmy but still manages to charm, and the cinematography is lovely but I think what really makes this film for me are all the wonderful small roles filled by great actors. Albert Brooks, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Steve Zahn, Catherine Keener, Dennis Farina, Luis Guzman, Nancy Allen, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, and Viola Davis all make appearances and are all fantastic no matter how short their time on screen is.
No, that's not what does it - it's how much ass Jennifer Lopez kicks. Or maybe how subtle and quiet the growing affection between the mains is. Or maybe it's the clever dialogue. Or maybe it's the way that Soderbergh will periodically select a particular frame to freeze and focus on for a second or two to highlight the moments the characters are sharing. Or maybe it's the overt comedy of understatement. I don't know. I just know that I enjoy the hell out of this film and I'm glad I caught it while scrolling through a basic-cable offering of movies a couple of weeks ago because it's nice to be reminded that there are quietly entertaining movies out there that are about relationships without having to be ONLY about the relationship, or about heists without exclusively focusing on the heist.
Cheers,
- Alli
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