DUTCH TREAT; ELMORE LEONARD'S EASY STYLE, MISFIT CHARACTERS COMING ACROSS.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Daily News Film Writer

After federal marshal Karen Sisco stumbles onto a South Florida prison break in an early scene from the new underworld comedy ``Out of Sight,'' she soon finds herself locked in the trunk of the getaway car with one of the escaped convicts, a debonair bank robber named Jack Foley.

It's close quarters for Jack and Karen, and since they're played by George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, you know some sparks are going to fly. And they do - sort of - but mostly the two talk about the movies, old films like ``Three Days of the Condor.''

``Yeah,'' Karen says, ``the one with Faye Dunaway and Robert Redford, when he was young.''

Novelist Elmore Leonard, who wrote the book upon which ``Out of Sight'' is based, finds it perfectly natural that a federal marshal and career criminal would find a common language in film.

``People talk about the movies; I know I do with my friends,'' Leonard says. ``Movies are something we all know. One of the quickest ways to get to know a stranger is to ask him what movies he likes. It's that simple.''

These days, the types of movies Hollywood producers seem to like are based on Elmore Leonard novels. When Leonard began writing, he supported his westerns and crime capers by cranking out screenplays. Among them were two original works that Leonard himself calls stinkers - a Charles Bronson revenge picture, ``Mr. Majestyk,'' and probably the worst western Clint Eastwood ever made, ``Joe Kidd.''

``The bad thing about screenplays is that you have to please everyone involved with the movie, and that's too many people,'' Leonard, 72, says. ``I always took (Raymond) Chandler's advice on working in Hollywood, which was to wear your second-best suit, artistically speaking, and keep your mouth shut. That's why I always stayed with the books first. There, the only person I have

to please is myself.''

After his novels became financially successful - no short process - Leonard let others adapt his work for the screen. But the resulting movies - duds like ``Stick,'' ``52 Pick-up'' and ``Cat Chaser'' - always failed because they never grasped the funky, funny world of misfit losers that Leonard always so perfectly captured on the page.

``I always thought he deserved better movies,'' says Clooney, a big fan who still can recall every word of his first conversation with Leonard. (``He's this little guy and he walks up and says, `Hi. Call me Dutch.' And I'm like, `OK, Mr. Leonard. You got it.' '')

Along came `Shorty'

Leonard's books have been getting better treatment recently, starting three years ago when screenwriter Scott Frank nailed Leonard's snappy tone with ``Get Shorty.''

``When we did that movie, it was the hardest of hard sells,'' says Danny DeVito, whose company, Jersey Films, produced both ``Get Shorty'' and ``Out of Sight.'' ``Nobody wanted to do an Elmore Leonard book.''

And now everyone does. Last year, Quentin Tarantino paid homage to the author, putting the wild eccentrics of ``Rum Punch'' into his ``Pulp Fiction'' follow-up, ``Jackie Brown.'' In fact, Tarantino loves Leonard's work so much that his production company bought the rights to four other novels, including one of his early westerns.

Joel and Ethan Coen have already written the screenplay for Leonard's latest book, ``Cuba Libre,'' a period piece set in Cuba around the time of the Spanish-American War, and are considering bringing it to the screen as their next project. ABC is looking to turn ``Maximum Bob,'' one of Leonard's most popular novels, into a television series. And Leonard has already written - and sold - his ``Get Shorty'' sequel, ``Be Cool,'' which follows loan shark Chili Palmer into the music business. John Travolta is reportedly very interested in reprising the role.

Tarantino, who says he shoplifted Leonard's novel ``The Switch'' from a local K-mart when he was 15, believes it was just a matter of time before the novelist made it big in the movies.

``One of the most important things about Elmore's work is that feeling of effortless realism,'' Tarantino says, ``where events seem to just sort of unfold all by themselves and you're reading along and you say to yourself, `This is exactly the way it would really happen.' ''

Screenwriter Frank, who did another fine job putting Leonard's world on the screen with ``Out of Sight,'' agrees, saying that he never knows what's going to happen next, even as he's reading.

``It's all happenstance, and that's what makes the books so delicious,'' Frank says. ``Elmore himself will tell you he doesn't know what's going to happen when he sits down to write every day. The books feel like that in a wonderful way, and I think that's one of the things that help turn them into really enjoyable movies.''

Frank says the key to adapting Leonard's work to the screen is to give it structure while maintaining that sense of unpredictability. Certainly, the early Leonard-based films failed simply by adhering too closely to cinematic devices without managing to capture the author's comedic tone and knack for ironic, offbeat characters and distinctive dialogue.

``Those movies took themselves way too seriously,'' Leonard says. ``These last few films - `Get Shorty,' `Jackie Brown' - and this one put the emphasis on character and not the action. You find out what these people are like and how they talk. Then stuff happens.

``I recognize the books in these movies,'' Leonard continues. ``Not that I need to. I just want a good movie. I don't care how closely they're adapted.''

Clooney pulls it off

With ``Out of Sight,'' Leonard was initially surprised that Clooney was cast as Jack Foley, a career criminal in his 50s in the book. In his mind, Foley was closer to Jack Nicholson or Sean Connery.

``George works, though, because he has an ageless quality to him,'' Frank says. ``And with a younger guy playing the part, one of the book's most interesting themes - the road not taken - is given a little different twist. Here's this guy, getting older, and he meets a wonderful woman and wonders, `What if I hadn't been a bank robber? Maybe I could have actually had a relationship with this woman instead of 10 minutes in a motel.' George gives it the same kind of sadness that would have been there with Connery.''

For his part, Leonard doesn't spend a whole lot of time in self-analysis. He says most of his lead characters are pretty much like himself - flawed men who drift through life waiting to see what the next day brings.

``There is one difference, though,'' Leonard says, smiling. ``I love the idea of coming up with exactly the right line. I can do it in my books, but never in my life.

``For example, I'm skiing in Aspen and it's 4:30 and I'm sitting on a bench exhausted and a woman puts her foot up on the bench to unsnap her boots and says, `God, I don't know what is more satisfying. To take off your boots or to get laid.' And, of course, I said, `Uuuuuh.'

``I've wondered for years what one of my guys would have said. And I'm still wondering.''

By the way, Leonard no longer skis.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) PULP FICTIONS

Hollywood loves novelist Elmore Leonard's tales of tough guys, losers and misfits

Photo Illustration - Bradford Mar/Daily News

(2) Elmore Leonard's snappy tone eluded filmmakers until ``Get Shorty'' got it right.

(3) George Clooney landed the lead in ``Out of Sight'' and pleasantly surprised the story's creator.

(4) Before ``Get Shorty,'' with John Travolta, Hollywood didn't want to touch Elmore Leonard's books.