From the director of Ocean’s Eleven and Traffic and the producers of Get Shorty and Pulp Fiction comes Entertainment Weekly’s ‘Sexiest Film Ever’! George Clooney stars as a criminal, fresh out of jail, and looking for one last heist. Except he has fallen in love with a Federal Marshal played by Jennifer Lopez.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the screenplay was written by Scott Frank (Minority Report, The Wolverine) and adapted from Elmore Leonard’s book. Leonard envisioned Jack Nicolson or Sean Connery as the lead Jack Foley when he sold the film rights.
Out of Sight is a favourite of George Clooney. “It was the first time where I had a say, and it was the first good screenplay I’d read where I just went “That’s it.” Even though it didn’t do very well box-office wise-we sort of tanked again-it was a really good film.” Even so it received critical acclaim. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America as well as Best Screenplay awards from the National Society of Film Critics and the Boston Society of Film Critics. The film led to a spinoff TV series in 2003, Karen Sisco. In 1998 Entertainment Weekly voted it as the sexiest film ever on their “50 Sexiest Movies Ever” poll.
Unpaid and uncredited cameos come from Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Keaton, who briefly reprises his role as Ray Nicolette from Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown (adapted from Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch) the previous year. Miramax Films owned the rights to the character, as Jackie Brown went into production first. Director Quentin Tarantino didn’t think that Miramax should charge Universal for using the character, so no financial compensation was received.
DJ David Holmes (Ocean’s Eleven) was originally hired to write a few sections of the film’s theme music. Soderbergh liked what he did so much that he had Holmes score the rest of the film. Holmes spent six weeks working 12 to 17 hour days to finish the score in time for the film’s release.
The scenes at Glades were filmed at Angola Prison in Louisiana where 500 real cons were used as extras.
Synopsis: Meet Jack Foley, the most successful bank robber in the country. On the day he busts out of jail, he finds himself stealing something far more precious than money. Karen Sisco’s heart. She’s smart. She’s sexy, and unfortunately for Jack, she’s a Federal Marshal. Now, they’re willing to risk it all to find out if there is more between them than just the law.
Cast: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Dennis Farina, Nancy Allen, Steve Zahn, Catherine Keener, Albert Brookes.
Extras: Feature Commentary with director and screenwriter, Deleted Scenes, “Behind the Scenes” Documentary.
Out of Sight is available on Blu-ray from 20th June 2016.