Exhilarating, Delicious, Super-charged Fun

Rating: 10/10 (2 June 2004)

"Ocean's Eleven" is the kind of light-hearted, enjoyable crime caper which becomes better, more enjoyable, and more intelligent upon multiple viewings. My initial overview of this film was that it was too much technicality and seriousness to be enjoyable and worthwhile. Now, having seen this film over and over again, I become bemused by its charisma, sophistication, and suave enterprise on a most exciting concept. The film plots parolee thief Daniel Ocean (Clooney) and ten of his selected "instruments" in the brilliant, if precarious scheme of robbing three prestigious Vegas casinos in the hopes of collecting on "eight figures each". Sounds enticing, yet how could such a scheme be executed, especially considering that nobody has ever succeeded in pulling it off? This film chronicles the endeavor and style of this cool, unerring gang to succeed in the impossible, to score magnificently, and to salvage certain losses (Ocean rebounding his wife, Tess, from the man he is determined to rob). The beauty and genius of this delightful, smart crime caper is its palatable premise (diverse characters working toward individual goals), its confident conviction (detailing every aspect and technicality of its theme), and its eventual denoument (which I can attest is the most consummate and rewarding conclusions in my knowledge of cinema). Every character shines, the script is smart and witty, and the style is more cool and suave than any scenario out of James Bond or Shaft. Glorious, triumphant execution of the most delicious of concepts. How cool can any film get? **** out of ****