After the failure of “The Underneath,” Soderbergh put his own money into the screwball oddity “Schizopolis,” a personal satire, which he wrote, directed, lensed and starred in.
With its disdain for narrative coherence, this satirical critique of modern life and marriage seemed to have come straight out of the director’s head, a sharp departure from the meticulous craftsmanship of “King of the Hill,” a good film, and “The Underneath,” a bad one weighted down by the intense concentration on form.
“Schizopolis” turned out to be a wake-up call. Just when Hollywood was ready to write off Soderbergh as a major film artist, he rebounded with his best film to date, “Out of Sight” (Universal, 1998), demonstrating again what a good actors’ director he is, when working with the right material. He also showed that he is one of the few filmmakers who can smoothly navigate between mainstream, Hollywood and indie projects. Soderbergh was concerned about finding a film with a big budget that would allow him to exploit his creative energy, and in this respect, “Out of Sight” filled the bill.
