Tag: jennifer-lopez

It’s been 20 years since director Steven Soderbergh delivered what many consider to be his crowning achievement in “Out of Sight.”

This comedic caper, an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel, did justice to its source material and kicked off a very fruitful partnership between Soderbergh and star George Clooney. That’s a milestone worth celebrating, so enjoy these fun facts you might not have known about “Out of Sight.”
1. Michael Keaton‘s character, FBI Agent Ray Nicolette, is the same one he played in 1997’s “Jackie Brown.” Both “Out of Sight” and “Jackie Brown” are adapted from Leonard novels.

2. Among other distinctions, “Out of Sight” is notable for being the first movie to feature two actors who have previously played Batman.
3. Jennifer Lopez spent ten weeks training with an actual FBI agent in order to learn how to properly fire her weapons in the film.

4. In the scene where Karen examines a mugshot of Jack and says, “He doesn’t even look like that,” the photograph is actually of Clooney’s character from 1996’s “From Dusk Till Dawn.”
5. Soderbergh strongly considering casting Sandra Bullock as Karen. He told Mr. Showbiz, “What happened was, I spent some time with [Clooney and Bullock] and they actually did have great chemistry. But it was for the wrong movie. They really should do a movie together, but it was not Elmore Leonard energy.” (The two would go on to later star in 2013’s “Gravity.”)

6. Author Elmore Leonard once said that he envisioned either Sean Connery or Jack Nicholson playing the role of Jack Foley when he sold the rights to the novel.
7. The scenes set in Florida prison were actually shot at Angola Prison in Louisiana, and 500 actual convicted felons were used as background extras.

8. The Karen Sisco character was eventually given her own TV series on ABC in 2003 with Carla Gugino taking over the role. Unfortunately, the series was canceled after only seven episodes.
9. Soderbergh originally shot the film’s most famous scene, the car trunk sequence, as one long take, but after test audiences responded poorly to the scene, he re-shot it in a different form. The original version is available as a bonus feature on the DVD.

10. Soderbergh also did 45 takes of the scene.
11. During their DVD commentary, Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Frank reveal that the cast improv’d a few memorable lines of dialogue. Example? The director and writer credit Don Cheadle for coming up with the line: “In a situation like this, there’s a high potentiality for the common motherf***er to bitch out.”
12. Samuel L. Jackson reportedly filmed his cameo in the final scene for free. (Keaton also is said to have done his bit role at no charge, too.)

13. “Out of Sight” topped Entertainment Weekly’s “50 Sexiest Movies Ever Made” list.