Elmore Leonard was a prodigious writer, who wrote countless short stories and novels through the years. With incredible dialogue, fumbling criminals, eccentric characters, and sparse prose, his stories were always entertaining, surprising, and unique. Stephen King called him “the great American writer”, Martin Amis told him at a life event: “Your prose makes Raymond Chandler look clumsy”, and he got a reputation as the “Dickens of Detroit”, as most of his stories of criminals and cops were set in his hometown.
Elmore Leonard's writing reads almost like a screenplay, and it's no coincidence. The writer himself said: “I’ve always seen my books as movies.” And that’s why so many of them have become big and small screen projects. Here are Elmore Leonard’s best TV and film adaptations:
6 Hombre (1967)
Before he became known for his crime stories, Leonard had written a lot of westerns. Hombre was one of the best adaptations of that period. John Russell (Paul Newman) is a white man raised by Apaches, who goes back to “civilization” to get his inheritance after his biological father dies. He leaves town on a stagecoach and becomes threatened by outlaws. The rest of the people with him might think he’s an outsider, but Russell might be their only hope to survive.
Paul Newman gives a movie star performance (like always). His portrayal of Russell is not the typical cowboy, but he is a hero nonetheless. For once, it’s not the dialogue that makes this a good Leonard adaptation, but it’s the twists and turns of the story, and Newman's physical and stoical presence in this film, that says a lot about prejudice and the mistreatment of Native Americans.
5 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
3:10 to Yuma was the only Leonard short story that got adapted twice to the big screen. First in 1957 and then again in 2007. Both versions have their merits, but we love the James Mangold version.
A small-time rancher holds an outlaw while awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. Christian Bale plays the rancher, and Russell Crowe plays the bad guy, giving us two heavy-hitters playing tough guys. As in all of Leonard's writings, both characters are a lot more than good guy versus bad guy in this story full of tension, action, and danger, with a great stealing scenes performance by Ben Foster. We recommend you to watch both versions, as you’ll see how western films have changed in 50 years, but if you can only see one, let it be the one with Bale and Crowe.
4 Get Shorty (1995)
Adapted from the book of the same name, Get Shorty is a Hollywood satire inside a mafia setting in one of Leonard’s funniest stories. This movie and Jackie Brown got the industry interested in his writing again, after many years, and with good reason.
Chili Palmer (John Travolta) is a mob underling who loves movies. He goes to Vegas to collect some money from a B-movie producer, and ends up selling him an idea, and becomes part of the Hollywood machine. Get Shorty is one of the best John Travolta performances, but the whole cast is great, which includes Danny DeVito, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, and James Gandolfini. Barry Sonnenfeld directed the movie with the script by Scott Frank, and both showed the industry how to adapt a Leonard story, creating one of the most acid views of inside Hollywood (The Player and State and Main might be the other two).
3 Jackie Brown (1997)
Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) is a flight attendant who’s forced to smuggle money from Mexico for crime boss Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson) when she’s caught by an A.T.F. agent (Michael Keaton). From there on, Jackie has to make the best of her situation while trying to stay alive.
Jackie Brown was adapted from Leonard’s Rum Punch in what was a match made in adaptation heaven. Tarantino has often cited Leonard as a substantial influence on his writing, and it makes a lot of sense, as both have a love for unique dialogue, colorful characters, and intricate plots. This film has incredible work from both. It has all the double-crossing and unique characters of a Leonard story, with a Tarantino layer on top (and Blaxploitation influences) that made this adaptation great. Leonard himself loved the changes, and called it one of the best adaptations of his work. All this may explain why Jackie Brown is not only one of Tarantino’s best movie characters, but also why this movie has a lot more heart and love (the relationship between Jackie and the bail bondsman Max, played by Robert Forster) than most of his films.
2 Justified (2010-2015)
Justified is the only TV adaptation on our list, but it's more than (pardon the pun) justified, as its lead character, Raylan Givens, is one of Leonard’s best creations. He’s cool, smooth, sometimes he’s even a begrudging hero, and Timothy Olyphant embodies him perfectly. Raylan is a U.S. Marshal sent to rural Kentucky to end local crime, including dealing with Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), a friend from his youth. The pilot episode was adapted from Fire in the Hole, and although many of the episodes don’t use any of Leonard’s stories its tone and sense of humor are there, in every frame and every word spoken. Olyphant was great, and had spectacular acting battles with Goggins, although his best acting rival might have been season two big bad, Margo Martindale.
Graham Yost, Justified’s showrunner, told Uproxx that “Elmore liked our show. He was proud of it and felt we were doing his writing justice.”. The creative team worked so well together that there’s going to be a Justified revival next year, and Tarantino might direct some of those episodes. Leonard would be proud.
1 Out of Sight (1998)
Out of Sight is still Leonard’s greatest film adaptation. The movie is incredible. It tells the story of Jack Foley (George Clooney) and Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez). It all starts when they have a “meet cute” inside the trunk of a car. Although being on different sides of the law, they can’t keep apart from each other. Is it lust or love?
Out of Sight uses Leonard’s original story for great effect. The film keeps the peculiar thieves, the incredible dialogue, the Detroit and Miami locations, and the messiness of its lead characters. The film also adds a sexy-noir story with smooth directing by Steven Soderbergh; a stacked cast, including Don Cheadle, Ving Rhames, and Michael Keaton; and great performances. Out of Sight is a masterpiece, and that’s why, more than twenty years later, it’s still Elmore Leonard’s best-adapted work.