Out of Sight
Universal Pictures | Release Date: June 26, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
84
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Lucky for us there are no ordinary circumstances in this smart, tasty adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel and it gets quirkier, funnier and sexier as it goes. Read full review
100
Washington PostStephen Hunter
In some ways Soderbergh does a much better job than Tarantino. He handles the time shifts more adroitly, always keeping us on track; he goes easy on the violence, and when he does unleash it, it's short, fast and ugly. Read full review
100
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
One other element helps Out of Sight tremendously: the editing. [3 Aug 1998]
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
[Soderbergh] plays with time and narrative to reveal character, mood and longing in ways you just don't find in a mainstream crime picture. Read full review
100
New Times (L.A.)Michael Sgragow
The audience responds to Out of Sight the way Jack and Karen do to each other. Instantly we like the way it looks, moves, and sounds. Ultimately we like how it makes us feel. Read full review
100
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
This isn't a profound film, or even an important one, but then it isn't trying to be. It's so diverting and so full of small satisfying pleasures, you don't realize how good it is until it's over. Read full review
100
VarietyEmanuel Levy
Reveals Soderbergh in peak form, as he endows Leonard’s postmodern yarn with a meticulously detailed mise en scene that helps each member of his terrific ensemble soar. Read full review
100
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The film's sleek moodiness and visual sophistication are so effective that there's even a scene here that makes Detroit look like the most romantic city in the world. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Engaging and consummately entertaining. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Works both as a great romance and a great, unconventional crime thriller. But step back from such distinctions, and it just looks like a great movie. Read full review
90
SlateDavid Edelstein
Soderbergh contrives the perfect voice for Leonard's prose--laid-back and grooving when it needs to be, but also taut, with the eerie foreboding of violence about to erupt. Read full review
90
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Jack is just one of a dozen enormously appealing personalities in Out of Sight. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Schickel
What makes this movie work is the kind of cool that made Get Shorty go so nicely: an understanding that life's little adventures rarely come in neat three-act packages, the way most movies now do, and the unruffled presentation of outrageously twisted dialogue, characters and situations as if they were the most natural things in the world. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Everything in Out of Sight is smart -- the dialogue, the characters, and the storyline. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's a nice mix, an elegantly smoky and dangerous cocktail -- just like the old noirs, but in a more modern, shinier glass. And since the basic brew is Elmore Leonard's, it tickles as it goes down. [26 June 1998]
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The first film to build on the enormously influential "Pulp Fiction" instead of simply mimicking it. It has the games with time, the low-life dialogue, the absurd violent situations, but it also has its own texture. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsDave Kehr
When boy meets girl in Steven Soderbergh's jaunty, sexy Out of Sight, it happens with a bang.
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Undoubtedly, [the lead actors] both benefit hugely from the sharpness of Leonard's stock-in-trade dialogue: Put smart words in any actor's yap, and their performance will rise accordingly. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Lopez, for all her Latina-siren voluptuousness, has always projected a contained coolness, and this is the first movie in which it fully works for her. Read full review
80
Film.comTom Keogh
Soderbergh appreciates the value of having fun with a so-so script, turning its cliches into fresh experiences and infusing energy into the margins of a predictable story.
80
SalonCharles Taylor
What makes "Out of Sight" a grown-up treat is that the mixture of lust and longing is as flawlessly proportioned as the ingredients in a perfect cocktail. Read full review
80
Film.comJohn Hartl
Quite a spicy brew.
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Hardly a serious caper film, Out of Sight instead takes a lighter approach, effortlessly offering up as many unexpected chuckles as it does bullets. Read full review
75
USA TodayAndy Seiler
The low-key approach probably gets closer to the soul of Leonard, but it lacks zip. As a result, Out of Sight sometimes runs out of gas. Read full review
70
Film ThreatRon Wells
Clooney has finally made a GOOD movie. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Steven Soderbergh's direction conjures an understated '70s vibe, striking an apparently effortless balance between grit and glamour. Read full review
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