allen , star of many a brian depalma movie in the early eighties , has a brief , throwaway part towards the end of " out of sight , " as the maid of a crooked financier . 
in keeping with her past performances , allen wears little more than a green velvet victoria's secret ensemble which begs the question , did they really need a costume designer for this ? 
 " out of sight " is not likely to secure ms . allen the kind of plaudits bestowed upon pam grier , who likewise returned from out of obscurity to appear in another recent elmore leonard adaptation , " jackie brown , " but it is intriguing to see her name kicking off the " also starring " credits given her limited screen time . 
the real stars of " out of sight " are george clooney ( " batman & robin " by way of " e . r . " ) and jennifer lopez ( " selena " ) , whose winning chemistry , coupled with steven soderbergh's freeze-frame directorial technique , help the film retain the charismatic charm of leonard's original work . 
with the success of " get shorty " three years ago , filmmakers have realized that adapting an elmore leonard novel can be an easier proposition than trying to dream up a storyline from scratch . 
in " out of sight , " clooney stars as jack foley , a career criminal who specializes in unarmed robbery--he just waltzes into banks and politely makes a withdrawal , claiming that his " partner " ( just another customer it so happens ) will shoot the manager if the teller doesn't comply . 
for all of jack's nice-guy charm though , he's not very lucky . 
his latest scam lands him in florida's glades correctional facility . 
federal marshal karen sisco ( lopez ) coincidentally arrives at the prison just as jack and his buddy ( ving rhames , typically appealing ) are breaking out . 
there's a brief struggle and jack bundles himself and karen into the trunk of the getaway car . 
it's in these cramped confines , pressed intimately together , that jack and karen start falling for one another . 
the mutual attraction continues as the couple on opposite sides of the law slip in and out of one another's grasp . 
karen follows jack to detroit , where he's about to pull off another heist , this time a cache of uncut diamonds from incarcerated businessman richard ripley ( played by a toupee-sporting albert brooks , almost unrecognizable in the prison scenes ) . 
it's during this final caper-gone-awry that allen makes her scant appearance . 
clooney's range as an actor is limited , but he has undeniable charm . 
lopez , too , is easy on the eyes , but she demonstrates more depth in her portrayal of karen , a tough yet tender professional . 
she dispenses with hit men as easily as she out-maneuvers sleazy pick-up artists in a bar . 
especially cute is a sequence in which karen fantasizes about jack in a motel bathtub . 
admirably supporting clooney and lopez are don cheadle as fellow felon maurice 'snoopy' miller , steve zahn as the perennially stoned glenn michaels , and dennis farina as karen's dad , who affectionately buys her a piece . 
add a couple of uncredited cameos from " jackie brown " cast members and " out of sight " proves to be a lot of fun . 
not as hip and clever as " shorty , " perhaps , or as complex and colorful as " brown , " but loads of fun nonetheless .