Making the most of an average concept

Rating: 6/10 (10 January 2002)

Movie goers around the world undoubtably drooled at the prospect of a movie carrying four heavyweight, A-list actors and the hottest director of the moment. "Ocean's Eleven", a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper, contains these expensive commodities. Directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh and starring (deep breath here...) George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon, this movie was sure to make Roadshow Entertainment a bucketload of money on the premise alone. It has done so, and while it may not be the world's most original and inspiring movie, it is a solid piece of entertainment, pleasing critics and audiences alike.
Clooney is the title character, Daniel Ocean, a compulsive thief who has just been released from prison. Upon leaving lock-up he has already devised a plan to knock off three of Las Vegas' biggest casino's, all in one night! Realsing he needs the best criminals in the business to pull off this massive heist he sets out on a sort of "Dirty Dozen" (minus one) round up of robbery genuises.
This ensemble of characters hits and misses. Clooney is excellent as Ocean. He is classicly stylish, very smooth and ultra-cool. Pitt plays Dusty Ryan, a card shark and general villan with a heart of gold. Since "Fight Club", Pitt has chosen solid and varied roles. His portrayl of Dusty is spot on, you instantly like the character and admire is style and charisma. Don Cheadle is great as Basher Tarr, pulling off a decent English accent as the explosives expert. Scott Caan and Casey Afleck play Turk and Virgil Molloy and provide the comic relief of the film. Matt Damon has an understated role as Linus Cauldwell, the pickpocket of the group. Perhaps most memorable of all, despite his limited screentime is Elliot Gould as Reuben Tishkoff, an outrageously over the top former casino owner. Swathed in gold and diamonds and sporting some hideously cool sunglasses, he hams his role perfectly as the jewish millionaire.
Other characters are not as memorable or effective, but fulfill their roles enough to compensate for their lack of charisma. Andy Garcia is effective as casino owner Terry Benedict. It's great to see him back in an A-list move for the first time in a while. Julia Roberts' role is small and more supporting that lead billing, but she plays Clooney's ex-wife to a tee.
Soderbergh has a firm grip on proceedings and the film only lapses in a few instances. The quality of camerawork and the tightness of editing is commendable and as an audience we are thankful that it is Soderbergh in control and not some MTV-style, music video director. His contribution ensures that the film delivers on both an entertainment and artistic level.
The film contains equal amounts of romance, laughs, action and dramatic tension and is enjoyable right the way along. It may not be the best work of any of its key contributors but any film that can charm picky critics and audiences with a very small attention span is bound to be a hit. Let's hope for more movies that can pull this difficult task off in the future.