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Steven Soderbergh is a director making a name
for himself. Memory jogs to his name include the Julia Roberts’ hit Erin
Brcokovich and George Clooney’s Out of Sight. Ocean’s Eleven
teams up Soderbergh and Clooney once again for a remake of the old Rat Pack
version of the film starring ol’ Frankie “Blue Eyes.” Needless to say this
is a hype version of the old…and far superior.
Ocean’s Eleven follows the criminal
adventures, and misadventures, of Danny Ocean (George Clooney), a recently
paroled thief and is partner in crime, pun intended, Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt).
Just released from prison, Ocean wastes no time planning the ultimate
heist…to rob a Las Vegas casino. Three, actually.
Ocean and Ryan begin their plan by selecting a
diverse cast of characters to pull off the perfect job. Matt Damon, Bernie
Mac, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin,
Carl Reiner, and Don Cheadle round out Danny’s Eleven witty criminal
masterminds as they plan to rob Terry Benedict’s (Andy Garcia) casinos.
Julia Roberts also stars as Tess, Ocean’s wife.
It should be assumed any remake of the wildly
original Ocean’s Eleven would be wildly original itself. More than
that, Ocean’s Eleven is the best executed heist film ever. Everyone
watches these films to see if and how the bad guys pull off the crime. We
want to be amazed and surprised. We want to be entertained. Ocean’s
Eleven has entertainment in spades.
While the heist itself is remarkable and its
reveal at the end of the film amazing, the true entertainment in Ocean’s
Eleven comes from the remarkable cast and their character development. A
true ensemble film, no cast member shines brighter than the rest. The witty
banter between the Mormon twins (Affleck and Caan) is the comedic thread
that binds the film together. The nervously inexperienced pick-pocket, Linus
(Damon), and the British munitions expert, Basher (Cheadle) are a joy to
watch.
However, it seems the jewels of the film are the
supporting cast members. Clooney, Pitt, Roberts, and Garcia play characters
we have all seen before. Clooney and Pitt are virtual mirrors of each other;
Garcia’s Benedict is essentially a more mature Vincent Mancini from The
Godfather Part III; and Julia Roberts is…well, Julia Roberts.
But please don’t get me wrong. I love
everyone in this film. I don’t watch Ocean’s Eleven to see
Shakespeare and Oscar winning performances. I watch the film to be
entertained and I believe the actors made the film to be entertaining.
Mission accomplished…and to be cliché, “Two thumbs way, way up!” |
