Joyful Ride, But A View Bumps

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2001)

I can confidently say that "Ocean's Eleven" is one of my favorite movies of the year. This movie's heist and suspense made it a gem of 2001. The humor was at an appropriate level for this film and was done with skill and success. The great acting by Cloony, Pitt, and Garcia is a thing to remember. But this movie did have its flaws, the major one being Julia Roberts. I give a lot of credit to Julia Roberts for "Erin Brockovich" and "Pretty Woman", but she is a hit-and-miss actress, and she scored a big miss in "Ocean's." Her presence in every scene was a unwanted one, not because the character was bad, but that she wasn't at her "Erin" best. The relationship between George and Julia also added to the problem. The one thing I could not see between them is the spark. That is what makes a great onscreen relationship, i.e. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in "Sleepless in Seattle". Cloony and Roberts do not belong together and this was not their mistake, but their director's. I have given credit to Steven Soderbergh on his past two movies "Traffic" and "Erin Brockovich" for the great casting and the superb acting. But his remake of "Ocean's Eleven" lacked those tow elements in Roberts and her performance with Cloony. Even though this was an unnecessary element to an already full to capacity film, "Ocean's Eleven" still turns out to be one of my favorite movies of this lack-luster year. It is one of my FAVORITE, but certainly not the BEST.