Folksinger Ani Difranco will perform at
Meadowbrook tonight at 7:30. Tickets
are still available at all Ticketmaster Monday
outlets. June 29, 1998

Superb
actin in
*'Out'
Matthew Barrett
Daily Arts Writer
He tried playing a vampire dlaser. It
didn't work. IHe played a divorced
father xith eves for Michelle Pfeiffer.
Not happening. And then he tried the
superhero thing. That didn't really work
ither.
After several failed attempts at trans-
lating his television popularity to the
movie screen, George Clooney has
finally bound suc-
cess its "Out of
Sight. an adapta-
u o tion of' the popu-
Qut of lar crime novel by
Sight Elmore Leonard.
From the see-
at sowcase anaotd he appears on
A ar and screen, storming
rirwood around on a side-
walk. Clooney
. . owns the audi-
ence as Jack
Folex. a bank
robber
It doesn't take
long for Foley to get down to business,
as he spots a bank and circles in for the
ill in the fim's first few minutes.
In a cool collected and cianning
manner, Foley goes about the robbers
as if its no big thing.
Clooney plays the part perfectly Who
else could pleasantly remind the teller to
keep smiling while he waits for the
greenbacks? Foley begins to make his
getaway with the loot. but things don't
go as planned once he reaches his car.
Foley ends up in jail, and the story
Makes off as he plots his escape from the
'"'big house. While making his break,
Foley comes across U.S. Marshall
Karen Sisco. played by Jennifer Lopez.
The two are quickly stuffed into a
trunk together and there begins the
story's most interesting relationship.
Lopez gives a passionate perfor-
mance as the straight arrow to
Clooney's hardened criminal. Dressed
to kill and packing heat, Sisco is a
smart and strong female character all
*oo rare in today's movies.
She faces tse intense struggle between
doing the right thing by loxally fulfilling
her duty as a federal marshal and trying
to see whether or not things can work out
with Foley. There is no in-between.
Although the relationship and blister-
ing chemistry between Clooney and
Lopez is the film's center, "Out of Sightf
is bursting swith incredible performances
from a talented supporting cast.
0 Don Cheadle gives a stellar perfor-
mance as Snoopy, a former boxer and
inmate of Foley's who has a firecracker
for a mouth. Whether its getting on the
case of one of his partners or getting in
the face of someone who rubs him the

Leonard's success skyrockets
B-Matthew Barrett
I:~.,.. vAt a tVner

courrsy of nivsaPitues
George Clooney succeeds on the big
screen in "Out of Sight,
wrong way, Snoopy cuts doim other
characters with a wicked verbal assault.
Through his gesturing and intensity
during Snoopy's few serious moments,
Cheadle is able to make the character
into something much more than a typi-
cal, big-mouth wise guy.
Ving Rhares performs with hi. usual
outstanding style as Buddy, Jack's fierce
friend and partner-in-crin,. The two
characters share a ver. tight bond and
their relationship is able to transcend the
played-out best-buds-from-prison bit.
'Out of Sight' also benefits from
appearances by a toupee-wearing
Albert Brooks as a bumtbling billionaire
and Dennis Farina as Sisco's overly
protective father
Screenwriter Scott I-rank sin\ho also
adapted Leonard's 'Get Shorty does a
remarkable job transferring the important
moments from the novel to the big screen.
The top-of-the-line script is also
tremendous at capturing the feel of the
characters. Unlike so many other
movies today, no one in the film seems
fake or unrealistic, and evey line of
dialogue is believable. Those behind
the film had clear visions of who the
characters were and did a wonderful
job representing that on film.
After a series of shialler and less
commercial films, director Steven
Soderbergh retums to the mainstream
for the first time since his revolutionary
"sex, lies, and videotape" hit theaters
almost a decade ago. Soderbergh
includes many memorable shots and
sequences in the film, including a box-
ing match that takes place in a sea of
yellow prison uniforms.
Boasting one of the year's best casts,
"Out of Sight" should be enjoyable for
all movie-goers looking for a good
laugh, especially those who are fans of
Clooney or ILconard.
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For a man who has literally brought
Holly wood to its knees begging for the
rights to his hip novels, the first ques-
tion to ask novelist Elmore Leonard is
easy. Ilows does he do it?
"When I have a book going then I
write all the time, all day, 9:30 to 6,"
Leonard said. "I do it on these yellow
pads that I have made. I've ahvsays
written in long hand, so I do all the
composing on paper, and then I put it
on the ty penriter after I get a page or
twio.
"I rarely get more than four or five
clean pages a day. Then I ressrite them
in the morising. I have to be satisfied
with the scene before I go to the next
scene, and that's hos I svrite, in scenes.
I want to be surprised, I want to find out
what the book is about as I'm writing
it."
And this is how Leonard has been
able to produce best sellers such as
"Get Shorty," "Riding. the Rap" and
"Rum Punch" Leonard's memorable
characters and sharp dialogue have
everyone in lollyxwo«xd from Tarantino
to Travolta clamoring to adapt his sto-
ries into movies.
The latest book to receive such treat-
ment is the recently released "Jut of
Sight," which stars George Clooney
and Jennifer Lopez. Clooney plays an
escaped bank robber and Lopez is the
U.S. Marshall who attempts to track
him down
Leonard, a long-time resident of the
Detroit area and graduate of both
University of Detroit High School and
College, has set many of his novels in
the city, but "Out of Sight"' is the first
adaptation to have parts filmed in
Detroit.
"This is the first one of mine that
was set here in the book and actually
used," Leonard said. "For example '52

ii's
Courtesy of UniversaPictures
Ving Rhames and George Clooney act out the film adaptation of Elmore Leonard's
novel, "Out of Sight." The book is only one in an impressive group of Leonard's
best-sellers that have been transformed to box office smashes.

Pickup' was set here, and they shot it
in Los Angeles.-
In fact, nearly half of "Out of Sight"
takes place in the metropolitan Detroit
area.
Recently, writer/director Quentin
Tarantino received a great deal of atten-
tion for his adaptation of "Rum Punch."
For the film, Tarantino changed several
details but mostly mirrored the book.
The name of the movie and its main
character were changed to "Jackie
Brown," and the title character was
changed from a Caucasian to an

African American. The director also
changed the story's setting from
Flonda to Los Angeles.
"Tarantino knoms the Los Angeles
area, that's where he grew up,"
Leonard said.
According to Leonard, Tarantino had
been waiting some time to get the rights
to the book.
"He wanted to buy 'Rum Punch'
right after he did 'Reservoir Dogs,' but
he didn't have the financing." Leonard
said. "le didn't have anybody behind
See LEONARD, Page 10

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