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Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh, 1998) Although it’s flashy and stylish in a way that doesn’t exactly befit Leonard’s style, this comedy warrants inclusion simply because it’s one of Soderbergh’s better films. As is typical of the director’s earlier work, the film has a heightened sense of artifice, both visually and thematically. The famous “trunk scene,” in which George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez misquote famous movies and wax poetic on Bonnie and Clyde while extraneously bathed in red light, justifiably stands as one of Soderbergh’s most beloved sequences.
Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997) People often cite this post-blaxploitation crime caper as the least Tarantino-esque of Tarantino’s work, probably because of the film’s effortless assimilation of Leonard’s unique voice. Indeed, Tarantino’s typically flamboyant style is dialed back considerably here. His other films are exercises in self-aware style, pop culture idiosyncrasies, and cartoonish violence, but Jackie Brown adheres to an internal logic and formal rhythm reminiscent of Don Siegel’s classic crime dramas. The overall effect is quite similar to reading Leonard’s novel, whose straightforward stories belie an intricate structural design.
