elmore leonard has quickly become one of hollywood's favorite authors . 
out of four film adaptations in as many years , the witty and inventive out of sight gives get shorty a run for its money as the best leonard adaptation around . 
george clooney stars as jack foley , a nice bank robber . . . you 
know the type , he uses his charm and his wits rather than a gun . 
but even charming guys end up unlucky , and jack ends up in jail . 
but not for long . 
he plots an escape with the help of his best friend , and fellow robber , buddy bragg ( ving rhames ) , and their slow-witted pothead associate , glenn michaels ( steve zahn ) . 
but jack didn't count on u . s . marshal karen sisco ( jennifer lopez ) . 
appearing at the right place at the wrong time , karen gets involved in foley's escape attempt and the subsequent manhunt to bring him in . 
however , karen develops a rapport with jack foley , and finds that she begrudgingly likes the guy . 
but , can love prosper on opposite sides of the law ? 
or can karen straighten out jack before he goes too far in pursuit of just one last crime . 
clooney , who has had a string of solid , but never stellar , film roles , delivers his best performance to date . 
he blends into his role here perfectly as the risk taking jack foley , who's willing to gamble everything on the chance that karen sisco might be his true love . 
jennifer lopez does an excellent job as well . 
she actually has a trickier role than clooney , as a woman who has to balance her emotions with her sense of duty . 
she and clooney develop good chemistry together . 
the film boasts a superb ensemble . 
steve zahn gives a hilarious performance , and steals nearly every scene he's in . 
don cheadle is appropriately sinister as a violent ex-con who may or may not be teaming up with foley . 
albert brooks is enjoyable as a white collar criminal who talks too much for his own good . 
out of the cast , only dennis farina seems underused as karen's ex-lawman father . 
steven soderbergh gives the film sharp and stylistic direction . 
with an affectation for freeze frames , he delivers a unique take on the film's action and love scenes that places out of sight a notch above routine crime films . 
a recurring series of flashbacks makes the film seem more complex than it actually is . 
devoid of its bells and whistles , out of sight is actually a fairly straightforward crime story . 
however , there are only a few spots in the film that seem bare , and they pass quickly . 
with smart dialogue , good characters , and an excellent cast , out of sight easily smoothes over the rough spots in the plot and delivers on both the action and romantic fronts .