Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard

(hb; 1996)

From the inside flap:

"Deputy U.S. marshal Karen Sisco is just stopping off to serve a summons and complaint on Florida's Glade Prison. She's all decked out in her black Chanel suit and heels but ready with her pump-action shotgun when the breakout begins, minutes after she pulls into the prison parking lot. But she's not ready for Jack Foley, the celebrity con who disarms her, invites her to climb into the trunk of her own car, and then joins her as his pal Buddy guns the blue Caprice onto the highway, heading for freedom. Squeezed into a trunk littered with handcuffs and tactical gear, the escapee bank robber is a perfect gentleman who shares her passion for movies and wonders if it would be different if they'd met in a bar.

"Only this time she's part of the federal task force hunting the escapees. This time she's sitting in the bar of the Detroit Westin, nursing a sour mash and watching a blizzard outside. This time Foley finds her. First come cocktails and conversation, Then Time Out. In Karen's suite, 'You like taking risks,' she says 'So do I.'

"Next morning Foley's gone and Karen's out to get him. She cruises Detroit's mean streets and boxing hangouts looking for Foley, Buddy and a hard case named Maurice, one step behind them as they plot the biggest heist of their careers - and a double cross that will leave only one man holding the goods. . ."


Review:

Out of Sight features Leonard's trademark character-based quirkiness and wit, waste-no-words plotting, and slick dialogue and action, this time flavored with a curiously cinematic, warm and romantic tone.

Worth owning, this.

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The resulting film was released stateside on June 26, 1998. Steven Soderbergh directed it. Scott Frank wrote the screenplay.

George Clooney played Jack Foley. Jennifer Lopez played Karen Sisco. Ving Rhames played Buddy Bragg. Don Cheadle played Maurice Miller. Steve Zahn played Glenn Michaels.

Dennis Farina played Marshall Sisco. Catherine Keener played Adele. Albert Brooks played Richard Ripley. Luis Guzmán played Chino. Isaiah Washington played Kenneth. Paul Calderon played Raymond Cruz. Nancy Allen played Midge.

An uncredited Samuel L. Jackson played Heijira Henry. An uncredited Michael Keaton played Ray Nicolette: this was the second time he played this character; the first time he played this character was in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 film Jackie Brown (which is based on Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch).

Abel Ferrara: The King of New York, by Nick Johnstone

(pb; 1999: non-fiction)

From the back cover:

"Abel Ferrara's controversial movies always push the censors to the limits and provoke powerful critical reactions.

"Now comes the first major portrait of the New York maverick director who is revered as an auteur as often as he is reviled as a sensationalist.

"From The Driller Killer (1979) onwards, Ferrara's films have courted controversy and kept him firmly on the wild side of mainstream movie-making.

"Ms. 45 (1981)
"Bad Lieutenant (1992)
"Dangerous Game (1993)
"The Addiction (1995)
"The Funeral (1996)
"The Blackout (1997)

"Nick Johnstone assesses the movies with a sharp critical eye and offers a rare insight into a very private director and his close circle of collaborators.

"For years little has been known about Ferrara. Now The King of New York throws a bright and revealing light on one of cinema's darkest talents."

Review:

Johnstone initially provides a few surface-but-key-facts about Ferrara's private life to give readers (who may not be familiar with Ferrara's ouevre) a sense of Ferrara, the man (outside the director's chair).

Mostly, though, Johnstone provides sharp, almost-shot-by-shot analyses of the films in Ferrara's cinematic career, starting with the low-budget, shockingly violent Ms. 45 (1981) and ending with Ferrara's underappreciated-and-masterful The Blackout (1997). (Ferrara, since publication of this book, has had other directing/writing gigs, but Johnstone's analyses -- for obvious reasons -- don't address those films.)

Johnstone, in a compelling way, writes about Ferrara's raw-noirish shooting style and recurring, often-Catholic-faith-based motifs (the ravaging of innocence, redemption, etc.). If you get anything out of a Ferrara film, Johnstone says, it's that you can't get to heaven -- if it exists -- without going through the bleakest of addictive hells first.

These themes of Ferrara's are partially formed and/or reinforced by those in "Abel's stable," the actors, screenwriters and technicians whom Ferrara consistently works with. (The phrase "Abel's stable" was coined by actress/screenwriter Zoë Lund, who co-scripted one of Ferrara's most infamous films, Bad Lieutenant [1992]; Lund has also acted in some of Ferrara's films, most notably playing Thana, the gun-toting, twice-raped main character in Ms. 45, under the moniker Zoë Tamerlis.)

First and foremost in Ferrara's "stable" is Nicholas St. John, longtime friend who's scripted most of Ferrara's more striking films, including Driller Killer (1979), Ms. 45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Dangerous Game (1993), The Addiction (1995) and The Funeral (1996). St John, a school-chum of Ferrara's, grew up much the same way Ferrara did -- in rough, poor, Catholic neighborhoods. Soundtrack musicians in Ferrara's "stable" include: Joe Delia (who's soundtracked three-quarters of Ferrara's films) and rapper Schoolly D (who soundtracked King of New York, Bad Lieutenant, The Blackout and New Rose Hotel.)

Actors in Ferrara's "stable" include: Harvey Keitel, Christopher Walken, Victor Argo, James Russo, Paul Calderon, Nicholas De Cegli and others.

One of the things that makes this an excellent read is that Johnstone, like Ferrara, has an informed appreciation of film history, and the directors and writers who helped shape that history -- directors like Pier Paolo Pasolini, Robert Bresson, John Cassavetes, Roman Polanski, and Martin Scorsese. (Ferrara's films often include homage/mirroring-other-films scenes in his own movies: the aforementioned directors are often the men who helmed the films that inspired Ferrara's "homage" scenes.)

My only nit about this book is that Johnstone confuses Wesley Snipes's and Laurence Fishburne's roles in King of New York (1990). It was Fishburne who played Jimmy Jump (not Snipes, as Johnstone claims); it was Snipes who played Thomas Flannigan, a cop itching to bust Frank White [Christopher Walken's character] (not Fishburne).

This is strictly a read for Ferrara enthusiasts, film-school/creative-types or anyone who's looking to expand their knowledge of certain, darker avenues of filmdom.

Well worth your time, this. Check it out.