Thanks to Don Cheadle...

Rating: Null/10 (10 December 2001)

For not standing on a crate singing, "EO 11" the way Sammy Davis Jr. did in the original Ocean's 11. I was afraid after seeing Cheadle portray Davis in the HBO movie The Rat Pack that he was going to forever be casted as a Sammy Davis Jr. type.
Let me say first, the Urban Critic despises remakes, and with all the indulgent media hype I went into the theater convinced Paramount's Ocean's 11 produced by and starring George Clooney was going to be a very disappointing flick. I like it when I'm wrong.
First, I saw the new Ocean's 11. It was clever and funny. A group of 11 guys attempt to steal $14 million from 3 Las Vegas casinos. While the premise was fantastic, that's the stuff that good comedies are made of. For one thing, a heist like that one isn't cheap. They had to spend $14 million trying to steal $14 million.
I was glad to see Carl Reiner doing what he does so well, which is making others laugh. I enjoyed Bernie Mack tremendously (as I always do). Brad Pitt is always a treat, as is Matt Damon both of whom had pretty good comedic timing (who knew?). I greatly appreciated George Clooney playing Danny Ocean but not playing Frank Sinatra. And although I'm not a huge fan, I enjoyed the movie so much that I'm not going to say anything bad about Julia Roberts.
And then I went home and watched the original starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. on the Turner Classic Movie station. The two movies are very different. For one thing, in 1960 it was not nearly as difficult to steal from a Las Vegas casino as it is today. Technological advances have made it impossible, where as back then all you needed was a key into the cashier's office. What the original accomplished with just a small bomb, the new version needed an atomic blast to do. But it was cool because this version required a lot more ingenuity than the first one.
But there was one very distinctive difference. When you watch the original Ocean's 11 you get a buzz off the Rat Pack. George, Brad, and Matt have game but not like Frank, Dean, and Sammy. You knew that when the director wrapped the shoot for the day that Sinatra and his boys would go to the Sands where they performed their nightly act complete with the drinking and smoking . You could tell by watching that they just weren't making a movie, they were having fun because they were friends. It was more than just the acting and the storyline, it was the Rat Pack in all their glory.
I've found that when I evaluate a film, the best standard of measurement is to ask myself, "Is it worth $8.25?" There are certainly enough laughs in Ocean's 11 to justify the costs. But just so I can seem like a critic, I'll give it an A' or a thumbs up, whichever you prefer.