Tomorrow will mark the one year anniversary for Out of the Past here at Matchflick. It's been a really good year filled with interesting criticism, a few grammar mistakes and a lot of fun writing for me in between. I've written columns on many topics ranging from Swedish directing genius to disgusting horror movie characters. As cool as 2007 was, I hope that 2008 is even better. Anyway, let's cut to the chase. I've done this format before with Office Space, Seven and Halloween. The idea is since most of the time I write about movies that were made before even my parents were born I figured why not write about some of the great classics of my lifetime?
"So I figure, why take a chance?"
If Out of Sight is a classic I guess you'd have to say it's a hidden classic. When I wrote my Top 10 Love Stories column last February I said that I'd yet to mention this movie to someone who had actually seen it. Well, almost a year has passed and the status remains the same. It really kind of amazes me considering the popularity George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Soderberg have all achieved since this movie was released 10 years ago. For all the great slickness of the Ocean's trilogy, this is where Soderberg started that style. Still, critics and true movie buffs alike (they're not always one in the same) have been singing the praises of this movie since day one. Still, I'll bet you'd find Daredevil in more queues at Netflix and Blockbuster than Out of Sight.
"Is this your first time being robbed?"
Out of Sight is a love story between a serial bank robber and a tough female Federal Marshall. Like most Elmore Leonard stories, Out of Sight puts perfectly amazing characters together in a less than perfect situation. George Clooney is Jack Foley, a man who can brag that when he was arrested he was told that he was credited with robbing more banks than anyone they could find in a computer. Jennifer Lopez is Karen Sisco, a woman who gets gushy when her dad gives her a gun as a present. She also happens to be a cop. Both Jack and Karen are people that lead lives of excitement. Neither are "9 to 5" people by any means. While each is the other's opposition in their chosen professions, both share the love of having anything but an average life.
"Most bank robbers are f@cking morons."
Jack meets Karen when he kidnaps her while breaking out of prison. Karen, planning to pick up another prisoner, notices two men popping through the ground just past the fences of the prison. She immediately alerts the guards who give chase to the escaped men. Following the prisoners through the tunnel, emerges a man dressed in a prison guard uniform. As soon as he gets close enough, he overpowers Karen and throws her in the trunk of her car. He may wear the uniform of a prison guard, but he's just a convict with a smart escape plan. The man and his accomplice take off in Karen's car. Knowing that they will be passing police on the lookout for the escaped prisoners, the man decides it would be best to ride in the trunk with Karen. The man is Jack Foley and this is how our love story begins.
"Hey bank robber! Hey, want some advice? Next time keep the engine running."
In what has to be one of the sexiest scenes in movie history, Jack and Karen become acquainted in the confines of a trunk in a car. Despite the awkwardness of Jack being an escaped convict and Karen being on the side of the law, never mind the kidnapping, there's a spark of attraction between the two. They only have a few minutes, but that's all they need. The connection has been made. After Jack makes his escape, Karen demands to be on the task force in the manhunt for the escaped prisoners. The two are on a collision course for something big, but is it going to be Jack versus Karen or Jack, Karen and a bedroom? That's your movie! You have Karen's problem of a jerk FBI agent boyfriend, Jack's competition for the one last great score (in the form the great Don Cheadle) and many other quirky elements in between. One of the movie's strengths is the plethora of great side characters. As great as the support is, the story is our two stars.
"You'd be surprised about what you can get, if you ask for it the right way."
George Clooney recently was asked in an interview on some TV show what his favorite role was. He didn't really give an answer, but he did say that this movie was on the list because it's such a great movie and what it was to his career. Clooney's an established movie star now, but in the late 90's he was making his transition from TV star to the big screen. I would say it was this movie, along with Three Kings, that showed the film world that he was a true star. Now, Jennifer Lopez obviously didn't take the same route as George, but this is her pinnacle as far as I'm concerned. She wasn't J-Lo here. No, she was still Jennifer Lopez. Before Jenny from the block and Bennifer, she was decent. Steven Soderberg was already an established director when he tackled this project, but you can't help feel that it was this film that was the forerunner to the style he's used in Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen. All of the stories in the four films are told in a very slick manner. The supporting characters are all different and idiosyncratic, but it's the confidence and style in which the main characters are portrayed that gives the movies their swagger. Jack always worries about the fact that he might end up an old man in prison, but he's not too afraid to try the one last score. Out of Sight will be a highlight in the careers of all involved forever.
"You can't do three falls and say you have much of a brain."
When Jack and Karen are in the trunk of the car they hear a police siren go by and Karen stops talking and listens to see if they get stopped. Now, you think that she's hoping the cop stops the car and saves her, but that's not quite the look on her face. If the cop stops the car and arrests Jack, then the moment is over. It's a very eloquent love story. As Jack says in the movie, everyone has those moments where they have that connection with a passing stranger on the street, but you do nothing and it's lost forever. What if you stopped and took that chance? Taking that chance is the story of Jack and Karen.
"They put a gun on you, you still have a choice."
Out of Sight is an R rated movie and very contemporary, but it's a movie that pulls from the untouchable quality of classic Hollywood. Jack and Karen are human, but they're too cool to ever doubt themselves or to not be able to handle any situation. Out of Sight is a love story in which both the male and female characters are equally strong and assertive. You can't have a great love story without great characters. Jack Foley and Karen Sisco are one of the great love stories in movie history, and Out of Sight is one of the best movies in the last twenty years. You look back through history and Vertigo, Touch of Evil, The Searchers and many other movies weren't applauded appropriately in their day. I truly think this is a movie in that class. Who knows what the greatest movies lists will include in fifty years? All I can say is go rent this movie! It's so damn cool!
"Take your sunglasses off."
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| Out of the Past |
Every other Thursday
Discussing classic films from City Lights to Apocalypse
Now and everything in between and beyond.
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| Andy York |
Andy is a life long movie fanatic. The first movie he saw in the theater was Back to the Future, Part 2 at the age of 3 and he has loved movies ever since.
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| Contact |
If you have a comment, question, or suggestion, you can send a message to Andy York by clicking here.
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