The A posteriori le cinema series is an opportunity to celebrate the 7e art by revisiting key titles that celebrate important anniversaries.
Jack Foley robs banks using neither guns nor violence. However, he was arrested three times. During an impromptu escape, he is surprised by the marshal Karen Sisco, who immediately becomes a hostage. But now, in the confinement of the trunk of the car that takes them, an irresistible attraction emerges between the suave brigand and the tough representative of order.
Romantic thriller mixed with humor, out of sight (out of sight), which opened 25 years ago in June 1998, changed the trajectory of the careers of George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Soderbergh.
In addition to the two protagonists, the film is populated by tasty secondary characters. We think among others of Richard Ripley, played by Albert Brooks, actor and director of the cult comedy Defending Your Life (It’s my death after all!). Richard is a rich incarcerated businessman who will quickly recover his freedom and his large lifestyle, not without Jack having ensured his safety in prison against the promise of a highly paid job.
Richard having failed to keep his end of the bargain, Jack will seek revenge. How ? By joining former fellow prisoners who hatched a plan to empty the trunk of the bandit with tie.
Casually, Soderbergh addresses a recurring theme in his work: socio-economic inequities. It is implicitly marvelous king of the hill (Alone in his kingdom), great Erin Brockovitchof sexy magic mikeingenious Logan Lucky…
Soderbergh reinvents itself
Either way, in 1998, the future Best Direction Oscar winner for Traffic needed a hit. After Sex, Lies and Videotape (Sex, lie and video) and his Palme d’or, all his films had been financial failures.
Leaving Hollywood and its artistic compromises, Soderbergh went to Bâton Rouge, the city of his youth, and filmed the experimental films there without means. Gray’s Anatomy And Schizopolis. Films that almost no one sees. In his book dedicated to the filmmaker, Aaron Baker summarizes:
“Soderbergh was clearly unhappy with the binary choice between Hollywood and the obscurity of low-budget independent cinema. […] Soderbergh’s response to this impasse was to create a hybrid way of doing things that would give him the commercial viability of continuing to shoot and wield a significant amount of creative control, while reaffirming his reputation as a filmmaker sensitive to the social impact of films, a connoisseur of the history of cinema and a director open to innovation. »
When the Universal studio hired him to out of sightSoderbergh seized his chance to reinvent himself and put the said hybrid model into practice.
You should know that it was a “hot” project, since it was based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, an author in vogue thanks to the recent successes of Get Shorty (It’s the little one we need), Barry Sonnenfeld, and Jackie Brownby Quentin Tarantino (the FBI agent character played by Michael Keaton in this film makes a fleeting appearance in out of sight).
For the account, Sonnenfeld was originally to perform out of sight, but, not crazy about the scenario, he changed his mind. Once on board, Soderbergh encouraged screenwriter Scott Frank to have more fun. Hence, in particular, the non-linear narrative structure which contributes a lot to the success of the film.
Make sparks
Brief, out of sight was for Soderbergh an “order”. This did not prevent him from delivering a personal film. In the collection Steven Soderbergh: Interviewsthe filmmaker uses colorful terms to evoke his “marking of artistic territory”:
“I guess it was obvious to everyone that if I made the movie, it was a given that I would piss on it. »
As for George Clooney, he certainly enjoyed an undeniable notoriety since the series RE (Emergency room), but none of his films — nor From Dusk Till Dawn (The longest night) neither One Fine Day (A beautiful day) — had really established him as a movie star. In 1998, he was mainly recovering from the debacle of batman robin (THE ” batsuit with nipples, remember?). In out of sighthis charisma exploded on the big screen like never before, which gave him access to the Hollywood pantheon.
The actor is completely involved during the filming. In the audio commentary recorded for the DVD release of the film, Soderbergh explains that during the prison sequences, which were shot in real penitentiaries with real inmates as extras, Clooney spent all his free time with them, preferring fraternize rather than isolate themselves in their private caravan.
A lasting complicity was also born between Clooney and Soderbergh, as evidenced by the subsequent Ocean’s Eleven (Las Vegas Stranger), its two suites as well as Solaris.
Jennifer Lopez lived for her part a situation similar to that of her partner. Rightly praised for her performance in the biographical drama Selenashe then had to settle for unmemorable roles in psychotronics Anaconda and the thriller U-Turn. Except that it was close to not being part of the distribution, Sandra Bullock being originally approached for the role.
AT Mr ShowbizSoderbergh revealed in this regard in 1998: [George et Sandra] shared great chemistry. But it was for the wrong movie […] George and Jennifer in a room is the energy the film needs. »
In the film, Lopez shows a natural authority in perfect complementarity with the facetious side of Clooney. Rarely have we seen a movie couple make so many sparks. In his criticism of Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert writes:
“At the heart of the film is the sense of repartee between Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney, and these two display in their shared scenes a kind of laid-back fun reminiscent of Bogart and Bacall. »
We do not change
What’s best about the lovers is that Steven Soderbergh, who blames this bias on Elmore Leonard, isn’t trying to reform Jack or corrupt Karen. Well, a little, but barely. Ah, that last smile from Jennifer Lopez…
In the collection of interviews mentioned above, the filmmaker confides:
“I like that the characters don’t change. I don’t see that happening much in life, so I tend to be suspicious when people go through big changes in movies. »
More than the box office, honorable but not mirobolant, it is the dithyrambic critical reception then a fruitful second life on the defunct rental market which madeout of sight a professional turning point for its main craftsmen.
For Steven Soderbergh in particular, this film allowed him to recover his artistic virginity. This, while telling, paradoxically, a burning love story.