'Out of Sight': a Wisecracking Action Flick

'Out of Sight" comes from director Steven Soderbergh, who flew to fame with "sex, lies & videotape" a decade ago. The new movie renews a question that has dogged his career ever since: Will he ever duplicate the impact of his first picture, or will his subsequent films lie forever in its shadow?

Soderbergh has tried just about everything to keep his reputation fresh with films like "Kafka," a surrealistic thriller, and "King of the Hill" a Depression-era drama.

Among his remaining options is the Wisecracking Action Picture, which describes the film reasonably well. The hero (George Clooney) is a bank robber on the lam; the heroine (Jennifer Lopez) is a tough-minded policewoman with a soft spot for him.

Soderbergh's screenplay serves up offbeat dialogue and wry ironies, but his self-created Everest of "sl&v" is still waiting to be conquered.

* Rated R; contains sex and violence.