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Out of Sight


#173 - Out of Sight
Steven Soderbergh, 1998



A male bank robber breaks out of prison but has his escape complicated by the accidental involvement of a female U.S. marshal.

As someone who counts seeing Ocean's Twelve as one of the most frustrating cinematic experiences he's ever experienced, you'd think I'd know not to trust in the original Steven Soderbergh-George Clooney caper comedy being particularly in line with my tastes. While Out of Sight doesn't feature anything as absurd as a character breakdancing past laser tripwires or Julia Roberts playing a character who impersonates Julia Roberts, it still somehow manages to lack any genuine spark despite its pulpy Elmore Leonard origins. Clooney's as good a leading man as this film could hope for, but Jennifer Lopez definitely feels like a weak link and I don't get any real sense of chemistry between these two despite their characters' unlikely connection being the driving force behind the narrative. An ensemble cast of generally respectable actors (and Steve Zahn) can only do so much to add to this film's very weak sense of momentum (which is not helped by the lengthy running time), as do a handful of small moments scattered throughout. As a result, there is very little to distinguish Out of Sight favourably in comparison to many other films of its ilk. Despite the obvious attempts at injecting style and personality (none more so than the overbearingly funky soundtrack), it's still an incredibly dry and overstuffed film where none of the good points seem to make much of a difference.