Grade:  A

Director:  Steven Soderbergh		Released:  June 1998
Writer:  Scott Frank, Elmore Leonard		MPAA Rating:  R
Players:  George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle		Running time:  123 minutes

Ratings System

George Clooney is the King of Cool for this generation, supplanting Frank Sinatra, Robert Redford, Gary Cooper and others cut from that cloth.  His demeanor is calm, he's intelligent and strong-willed, he's the classic definition of "movie star".  And all that charisma is on display in Out of Sight.  He can turn on the charm to woo Jennifer Lopez, then get in a brief prison brawl where a book is his best weapon, all the while staying cool like a cucumber.

It's that measure of coolness that sets the pace for Out of Sight.  It's a lazy, meandering film, but don't mistake those terms for boring or dull.  The scenes are fashioned to keep the viewer's attention, and they do.  It's riveting.  Lopez, Rhames and Cheadle get in on the act too.  None of the characters are dumb, each character has his own goals and motives, and the film does a great job of showing that.  I can't emphasize enough the attention paid to the characters, by the writer, the director, and the actors.  It's a character driven film and these characters are thoughtful and fleshy.

- crocoPuffs