This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
He's a Keeper
Plot Overview
Debonair Jack Foley (George Clooney)
exits an office building and strips off his tie with such vehemence
it could only mean he's rejected a job he couldn't stand. He spots SunTrust
Bank across the street and pulls a job there with such ease we figure this
is not his first rodeo. His getaway car fails him and he ends up in
dreaded Glades Correctional Institute, Belle Grade, Florida.
Six months later U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez) is lectured by her father Marshall Sisco (Dennis Farina) about her loser boyfriends, most of them in law enforcement. She drives over to Glades that night to serve a process, and while she's sitting in her car she spots Jack exiting a tunnel. Attempting to thwart his escape she is instead taken hostage by him.
There is a romantic spark between them,
and afterwards she finagles her way onto the task force hunting
him. Her feelings are at odds with her profession, and Jack for his
part is a really swell guy, a cut above the average criminal. The
plot revolves in circles so hold onto your hat.
Ideology
Jack's ex-wife Adele Delisi (Catherine Keener) tells him he should have used a getaway driver. There's something to be said for that. (Eccl. 4:9-12) “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” A driver would have split the ample take with him after they got away having “a good reward for their labour.”
Adele has it that, Buddy (Ving Rhames) “will take care of him; he's Jack's conscience.” We see this working out pretty well throughout the film, “for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow,” until the end when they split up temporarily, and then, “woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”
During the earlier escape Buddy stashes Marshal Karen in the trunk with Jack as they make their retreat. “Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?” While Jack was locked away in prison for six months he was celibate. Now he has some human closeness. Ooh, la, la.
“And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” He seems to have acquired an ally for the final prisoner transport, two in fact.
Production Values
“” (1998) was directed by Steven Soderbergh. Its screenplay was written by Scott Frank based on an Elmore Leonard novel. It stars George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Albert Brooks, Don Cheadle, and Ving Rhames. Clooney is one smooth character. Jennifer Lopez is in good form. The rest of the cast held up their own just fine. The scenes at Glades were filmed at Angola Prison, Louisiana, using five hundred real cons as extras.
MPAA rated it R for language and some strong violence. If you run through the deleted scenes, the movie will get fleshed out more. The music is catchy and there's a separate music track available for play in the supplemental material.
Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation
The movie is a walk in the park: good girl falls for a bad guy who has some redeeming qualities. However, I was disappointed that the writer let a sex interlude stand in for more complex emotional development. One can make up for it by watching the (first) deleted scene, of their whole conversation in the trunk, and then return to the main movie. I won't even dock it points in that case. Typical Hollywood fare, it's what one might expect.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Well done action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
bibles.n7nz.org