1998, 2 hrs 2 min., Rated R. Dir: Steven Soderbergh. Cast: George Clooney (Jack Foley), Jennifer Lopez (Karen Sisco), Ving Rhames (Buddy), Don Cheadle (Maurice Mille), Steve Zahn (Glenn Michaels), Dennis Farina (Marshall Sisco), Albert Brooks (Ripley).

Out of Sight was, quite simply, a very cool film. And a cool film begins first with the top-notch ensemble cast. George Clooney gets a lot of ribbing as the future David Curoso, formerly of tv's "NYPD Blue" before his film career bombed. But Clooney (Jack Foley) will not flop on the big screen. He's slick, witty and when even guys think he's cool, then he's not just a female hearthrob but an actor with a promising future.

Jennifer Lopez (Karen Sisco) is, oh, oh, oh, so sexy. Watching her is enough to give a guy the drools, looking like Homer from "The Simpsons" when he craves beer or donuts. Lopez, I hope, has made it cool again for women to have some meat on their bones and know they're guy magnets. I don't care what those heroin-chic model people think, they're out of the mainstream because few male heterosexuals want a real skinny girl, because it's not sexy, and looks like they're ill. Where was I? Oh, yeah, Lopez is fantasy-inducing. In Out of Sight, it helps that she's an authority figure as well, as a Federal Marshal.

Ving Rhames (Buddy) rounds out the "cool" trio of leads. I don't remember seeing him before Mission: Impossible, but I do know that he was one of the better reasons to see the movie. Rhames is that big tough guy with a soft heart, that will put a hole in your head but feel really bad about it later. In Out of Sight, he is a bank robber, but after each crime calls his evangelical sister to confess for hours and have her pray for him.

Even though Jack and Buddy are serial criminals, they're the good guys, because they don't harm anyone and don't use weapons in their crimes. One of the first scenes in the film sets the tone, as Jack saunters to a bank teller and nonchalantly robs her in detail, knowing all the tricks the bank uses and even has her convinced that if she doesn't help, then an unnamed accomplice will murder her boss. Of course it's not true, but the point is that he is charming enough to pull it off and have the audience approve.

The scenes where Clooney (Jack) and Lopez (Karen) interact and fall for each other are very seductive for the audience as well as the characters. There is no false emotion or depart from the character development in the car trunk and especially later in the Detroit hotel bar as the two trade simple dialogue as the director cuts back and forth showing us the unclothing that occurs later in the evening, but we'd rather hear the dialogue than see the sex. Trust me, it's true, and well done.

There is a big 70s influence in Out of Sight, especially with the music. I kept expecting a pimp or Shaft to show up with his music ("Who's the private dic that gets all the chicks? Shaft!). Except here it's "Who's the crook that gets all the looks? Jack!"

The minor characters, especially a couple of cameos by Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson blend in without being too obvious, even though any viewer will automatically blurt out, "Hey that's Michael Keaton/Samuel L. Jackson!" becuase it's natural when a popular performer is unbilled. These cameos are humorous, and add something to the feel of the picture.

Like Pulp Fiction, a movie of the same genre, Out of Sight pops back and forth between time periods and I thought it was great. Of course, I despised the former because of its unnecessary violence and coarse language, whereas the latter knows it has the slick dialogue and uses action when needed, not just to be "cool" as I believe Tarantino strives too hard. Tarantino should take some tips from those who may be following his footsteps, but are doing a better job, such as Steven Soderbergh in Out of Sight.