Jon Hamm selects his favourite crime movie
Jon Hamm, best known for his masterful portrayal of Don Draper in Mad Men, has worked with a series of acclaimed directors throughout his career, whether this is the comedic magic of Paul Feig on Bridesmaids, the masterful mind of Scott Z. Burns on The Report, or the cinematic legend Steven Soderbergh on No Sudden Move.
The opportunity to work with the latter was not one that Hamm was prepared to miss, as he was a filmmaker close to his heart. The ensemble cast for the 2021 movie also included Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraser, Ray Liotta, David Harbour and Kieran Culkin.
Due to Soderbergh’s reputation, a string of acclaimed figures, including Hamm, are all prepared to drop anything to work with him, which speaks volumes about how highly actors respect his endeavours.
No Sudden Move is set in Detroit during the 1950s and is a crime movie that follows a series of lowly criminals who plot a simple robbery. However, what should have been a standard task turns sour as everything goes wrong, and the characters find themselves in a world of trouble.
For Hamm, Soderbergh is the master of the genre and is responsible for directing what the actor considers the greatest crime movie of all time. Speaking to EW, he named the 1998 cult classic Out of Sight, starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, as the pinnacle of this area of film.
Explaining his decision, Hamm said: “Out of Sight. That wasn’t the first Soderbergh film I’d seen obviously, but it was the one where I really sat up, took notice, because of how great literally everyone was in it, from Cheadle to Albert Brooks to [George] Clooney, Jennifer Lopez. Everybody in it is great and established this sense of cool that I think many filmmakers are still attempting to reach.”
The film was based on the Elmore Leonard novel of the same name to much critical acclaim, earning two Academy Award nominations. Compared to Soderbergh’s earlier work, Out of Sight was his step into the mainstream from his previous arthouse direction and proved he could be trusted with a mightier budget, setting the foundations for the Ocean’s franchise.
It also marked the beginning of his fruitful partnership with George Clooney, who didn’t take much convincing to participate in the project. “Out of Sight was the first time where I had a say, and it was the first good screenplay that I’d read where I just went, ‘That’s it.’ And even though it didn’t do really well box office-wise – we sort of tanked again – it was a really good film,” Clooney later remarked.
Watch the trailer for Out of Sight below.
