Retro Review: Out of Sight (1998)

Had the Best Picture category been expanded to 10 back in 1998, you can bet your candy statue replica (is there a Oscar pez dispenser out there yet? No? Don’t anyone steal my idea!) Out of Sight would have snagged one of the nominations. Hell, it could have been the dark horse to winner Shakespeare in Love’s cuteness and Saving Private Ryan’s Academy prestige. Directed by Academy fav Steven Soderbergh (who won the Best Director award two years later for his work in Traffic), this Elmore Leonard adaptation is smart and commercial; a populist, star-studded pic shot and cut with an indie eye. It isn’t an “important” film, but it oozes so much casual classy cool it could keep star George Clooney in tuxes and scotch for a year.