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I felt the need to respond to the criticism of Steven Soderbergh. First of all, "The Limey" is an excellent piece of cinema. It's great to see a fairly straightforward plot directed in an innovative way that does tie everything together. Unlike a good deal of the films being released today, "The Limey" is more rewarding on a 2nd viewing when the overlapping structure makes more sense. Even with solid performances by Terrance Stamp and Peter Fonda, the star is still the direction. If only this could be the work of the normal "indie" director.
An even stronger support for Soderbergh is "Out of Sight," one of the best films of 1998. Unfairly shut out of the major Academy Awards, it's directing structure is less complex than "The Limey", but works even better because of the characters created by Elmore Leonard. Soderbergh pulls the best performance out of George Clooney in his career, and even gets Jennifer Lopez to be more than just her looks.
Both of these films stand up (and actually are superior) to Sex, Lies, and Videotape, his supposed "masterpiece". I can't wait to see his next film.
Dan
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