elmore leonard has quickly become one of hollywood's favorite authors . out of four film adaptations in as many years , the witty and inventive out of sight gives get shorty a run for its money as the best leonard adaptation around . george clooney stars as jack foley , a nice bank robber . . . you know the type , he uses his charm and his wits rather than a gun . but even charming guys end up unlucky , and jack ends up in jail . but not for long . he plots an escape with the help of his best friend , and fellow robber , buddy bragg ( ving rhames ) , and their slow-witted pothead associate , glenn michaels ( steve zahn ) . but jack didn't count on u . s . marshal karen sisco ( jennifer lopez ) . appearing at the right place at the wrong time , karen gets involved in foley's escape attempt and the subsequent manhunt to bring him in . however , karen develops a rapport with jack foley , and finds that she begrudgingly likes the guy . but , can love prosper on opposite sides of the law ? or can karen straighten out jack before he goes too far in pursuit of just one last crime . clooney , who has had a string of solid , but never stellar , film roles , delivers his best performance to date . he blends into his role here perfectly as the risk taking jack foley , who's willing to gamble everything on the chance that karen sisco might be his true love . jennifer lopez does an excellent job as well . she actually has a trickier role than clooney , as a woman who has to balance her emotions with her sense of duty . she and clooney develop good chemistry together . the film boasts a superb ensemble . steve zahn gives a hilarious performance , and steals nearly every scene he's in . don cheadle is appropriately sinister as a violent ex-con who may or may not be teaming up with foley . albert brooks is enjoyable as a white collar criminal who talks too much for his own good . out of the cast , only dennis farina seems underused as karen's ex-lawman father . steven soderbergh gives the film sharp and stylistic direction . with an affectation for freeze frames , he delivers a unique take on the film's action and love scenes that places out of sight a notch above routine crime films . a recurring series of flashbacks makes the film seem more complex than it actually is . devoid of its bells and whistles , out of sight is actually a fairly straightforward crime story . however , there are only a few spots in the film that seem bare , and they pass quickly . with smart dialogue , good characters , and an excellent cast , out of sight easily smoothes over the rough spots in the plot and delivers on both the action and romantic fronts .
