It really is quite tricky to pin Steven Soderbergh down to a specific style, other than ‘stylish’. The man’s a technical genius, with a complete mastery of the filmmaking process.
It’s even harder to associate Soderbergh with a particular genre. Across five decades and 36 films, the American auteur emerged from the indie scene to direct Hollywood thrillers, slick heist movies, detailed biographies, cerebral sci-fi, raunchy comedy, blistering action and – in his latest film, Black Bag – tense spy drama.
He’s won Oscars, fallen in and out of love with the studio system, and even at one point retired from the movie making business altogether. Thankfully, he treated retirement like one of his films, quickly forgetting about it and moving onto his next cinematic project.
With Black Bag arriving in cinemas to considerable acclaim, we thought now would be the ideal time to pick out some of Soderbergh’s key films. Which of these eclectic treats is your favourite?
1. Sex, Lies, and Videotape
The film that started it all off for Soderbergh also arguably kickstarted the ’90s indie cinema boom. That’s some debut. 1989’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape was, for its time, a boldly frank look at relationships and female sexuality. With its naturalistic dialogue and voyeuristic premise – its lead character films women talking about their most intimate thoughts and feelings – this is the film that set the foundation for pretty much all of the talky, thoughtful English language films that followed.
2. Che (Parts One and Two)
We’ll treat these two distinct films about revolutionary icon Che Guevara as one, as they were released in cinemas just a month apart. If we’re forced to choose just one, it’s the first film that proves the more entertaining, as Benicio Del Toro’s Ernesto “Che” Guevara helps lead a socialist revolution in ’50s Cuba. The second part deals with Guevara’s less successful latter years, and is a bit more of a slog. But when else have you seen a major historical figure covered in this much detail outside of a documentary or limited series?
3. Magic Mike
Just about the polar opposite of Che, Magic Mike is the feel-good smash hit that no one expected from former indie darling Soderbergh. Channing Tatum plays jobbing male stripper (Magic) Mike Lane, who at the outset of the film finds himself pining for a better life and mentoring young up-and-comer Adam (Alex Pettyfer). Besides its huge box office successive, which spawned a hit Broadway musical, Magic Mike is perhaps most notable for its role in helping to kickstart the ‘McConaissance’. Matthew McConaughey chews all the scenery as Mike’s ambitious former-stripper boss.
4. Erin Brockovich
Traffic might have been the critical darling on the year 2000 awards circuit, but it’s Soderbergh’s other film release of that year that’s more fondly remembered. Julia Roberts plays the real life role of Erin Brockovich, an unemployed single mother who joins a legal firm and uncovers a case of industrial negligence and corporate cover-up in the early ’90s. The role deservedly gave Roberts her one and only Oscar, but her performance is rooted in Soderbergh’s technically assured direction.
5. Contagion
Contagion received a lot of attention back in 2020, some nine years on from its original release. Something about its grounded, unflinching, fastidiously researched take on a fictional global pandemic struck a chord with a locked down population. Of course, in Soderbergh’s hands, this material takes on the trappings of a slick international thriller, as assorted figures (all played by very famous actors, of course) tackle the threat from a horribly familiar virus. Contagion is a disaster movie of the highest order, and well worth another watch – if you can bear it.
6. Logan Lucky
Some have labelled Logan Lucky a redneck Ocean’s Eleven, but that description runs the risk of diminishing what a low key triumph it is. Yes, this is yet another slick heist movie, and yes, it features another starry cast pulling off an impossibly intricate plan. But Logan Lucky has a bucket load of off-kilter charm to accompany its clockwork skulduggery, and a good deal less smugness. You’ll find yourself genuinely rooting for Channing Tatum’s down-on-his-luck construction worker and his one-armed brother (Adam Driver), not to mention Daniel Craig’s outrageously accented accomplice.
7. Traffic
If you needed any proof of how prolific Steven Soderbergh has been over the years, consider his two-film contribution to the 73rd Academy Awards. Everyone loves Erin Brockovich, featured elsewhere on this list, but it was Traffic that won Soderbergh his one and only directing Oscar. The film tackles the illegal drug trade through multiple interwoven perspectives, including a Mexican cop, a DEA agent working the problem from the American side of the border, and a US judge with an addict daughter. It’s as comprehensive a take on the matter as Hollywood has ever produced.
8. Solaris
It’s a brave director who dares to tackle a remake of Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 masterpiece, which is right up there with 2001: A Space Odyssey in the influential sci-fi stakes. Of course, Soderbergh attempted to beg off any direct comparisons by claiming that his film was a fresh take on Stanisław Lem’s 1961 source novel, but even so. The resulting film isn’t quite as momentous as the original, but it’s a beautifully made slice of cerebral science fiction nonetheless, as George Clooney’s psychologist is sent to help the crew of an afflicted space station.
9. Ocean’s Eleven
It’s a tough ask identifying a signature movie with a director as prolific and chameleon-like as Steven Soderbergh. If you were to hold a gun to our heads, though, we’d probably opt for Ocean’s Eleven. It brings together his fondness for a stylish cut and a beautiful ensemble cast, and throws them all into a hugely enjoyable heist movie. Yes, it’s technically a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack movie of the same name, but Soderbergh’s version stands on its own impeccably tailored two feet.
10. Out of Sight
After a somewhat halting ’90s for Steven Soderbergh, the director finally rediscovered his mojo and entered into an enviable golden streak with this 1998 adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel. In what must surely go down as one of the coolest, sexiest crime thrillers ever made, George Clooney’s career bank robber literally stumbles into Jennifer Lopez’s US Marshal during a prison break. Barbs are thrown, sparks fly, and looks smoulder in the ensuing game of cat and mouse – all of which is set to the swinging-est of soundtracks.
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