(A-) Overall, the picture is quite good, although some minor problems with pixelation prevent it from being ultra-sharp, especially later in the film where they're much more noticeable. While viewers may also complain about some scenes looking over saturated (those set in warmer climates) and others being too bluish (those set in colder environs), the effect is purposefully done by director Soderbergh -- although the flesh tones in those warmer scenes are perhaps taken a bit too far.
Otherwise the picture is very rich looking, with the lush greens of foliage and the vibrant yellows of inmates' outfits particularly standing out. Although not perfect, the picture, for the most part, looks quite good.
AUDIO:
(A) With crisp dialogue, some decent sound effects, and a fun and funky score, the DVD's audio quality is good and delivers exactly what's demanded of it. Don't expect a demonstration quality audio track, however, as there's simply not enough material present to warrant such a distinction.
EXTRAS:
Scene selection/Jump to any scene.
"Inside Out of Sight" -- A 25+ minute documentary about the making of the film, including interviews with the cast and crew.
Running audio commentary by director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Frank detailing their involvement in the making of the film.
Deleted scenes -- 22+ minutes of various scenes that didn't make the final cut.
Music highlights -- 7 scenes from the movie that feature bits of the musical score.
COMMENTS:
The third big screen treatment of crime novelist Elmore Leonard's work to be released in as many years, "Out Of Sight" is probably the weakest of the bunch. Although it's not horrible by any stretch of the imagination and fares better than a great deal of the flotsam sent forth by the studios year after year, it doesn't compare well with the other recent adaptions, "Get Shorty" and "Jackie Brown."
While all three have interesting and diverse criminal characters, the first two films balanced them with well conceived, complicated, and often twist-filled plots. Of course some moviegoers will love the complex, quirky and often well defined characters that populate this story, and they are, for the most part, it's saving grace.
While I liked the film a bit more upon viewing it a second time, my main objection (based on my own predisposition toward strong plots) still holds that such interesting characters alone can't carry a movie and that's all too apparent here. Despite the fact that most other critics hailed this movie, most audiences agreed with our assessment, and due to the resulting mediocre word of mouth, the film never broke out.
The disc does have some nice supplemental material, however, including our favorite element -- the running audio commentary that's both insightful and a great teaching tool for would-be directors and screenwriters.
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