Elmore Leonard must be on top of the world. Ever since Quentin Tarantino announced that Leonard was his favorite author, things have been picking up for the American author. His books have been selling a lot more, and his stories are hot properties for movie translation. So far Get Shorty and Jackie Brown (based on Rum Punch) have been very successful films, the direct-to-video film Touch was also moderately successful. Out Of Sight, the current Leonard flick, looks to be just as successful.
Produced by the same team as Get Shorty, and featuring a hip cast (including George Clooney, Ving Rhames, Jennifer Lopez, and Don Cheadle), Out Of Sight, like Get Shorty, is a lighthearted look at crime and romance filled with quirky group of characters in abnormal situations. It's that slight difference from the norm that makes Leonard's stories so special. They don't weigh you down with intense situations (even the gunfights are kind of laid back) and the characters don't carry much emotional baggage (they're all relatively strong and independent).
In Out Of Sight, George Cloony is a rather smart and harmless bank robber. His record is well over 200 jobs and he's never used a gun. He's been in and out of jail numerous time, and after his most recent "heist", he's caught because his car wont start. In jail he catches wind of a bust out, and fandangles his way into the plan. During the bust out, Clooney and his partner, played by Ving Rhames, takes an FBI agent (Jennifer Lopez) - who just happened upon the break - hostage. Hiding together in the trunk of the car, Lopez and Clooney have a rather smooth conversation (considering the circumstances) and the two are instantly smitten with eachother). Much of the movie deals with the two of them chasing after eachother, and having a romantic interlude, while the rest of the movie is an abnormal heist. An ex-cellmate of Clooney's (Albert Brooks) has hit the big time, and there were reports that he had stashed many expensive diamonds somewhere in his Detroit mansion. Upon breaking out Clooney and Rhames plan to steal the diamonds. Don Cheadle, another ex-cellmate, also has plans to steal the diamonds, using his own violent group of people. The two form an awkward union which obviously goes sour during the heist, but thankfully, Clooney's FBI love interest has his back.
Sam Jackson and Michael Keaton put in two uncredited cameos, Keaton reprising his bit-role from Jackie Brown, oddly enough. One of the best movies this year, Out of Sight is highly recommended.