Padding the resume

Steven Soderbergh seems to be forging ahaead with new projects despite the underperformance of some recent films and studio cancellation of others. Does studio timidity make it harder for Soderbergh to bring his sensibility to mainstream fare? (Indie Eye)

It's not like Soderbergh's dabbling in studio fare was ever necessarily that commercial. 2000's "Erin Brockovich" and "Traffic" play it relatively straight, but since then every "mainstream" film he's made has been a little off-kilter. The "Ocean"'s series -- especially "Twelve" -- privileges pure style over content more than any other franchise around. "The Informant!" is Soderbergh's first proper "studio movie" in two years, and early reviews are mixed, suggesting there's a tonal clash between dramatic and wryly comic material. To me, that seems to mean not that Soderbergh's "failed," just that this supposedly commercial comic vehicle didn't come out that way.