Great Film!

Rating: Null/10 (30 October 2011)

The movie Ocean's 11 is a riveting film supported by a star-studded cast and a complex plot line. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon are all actors with impressive resumes who truly know and understand the art of acting. They transform themselves fully into their characters and leave no trace of past roles. Adding to cast's slew of celebrities is Julia Roberts, whose role as Danny Ocean's (Clooney) ex-wife is acute yet powerful. Every time she enters a scene she manages to dominate it and leave a lasting mark with her soft-spoken, deep voice. The cast alone is justification to watch the film, since it is hard to imagine a bad movie with such incredible actors. The names provide an instant attraction and reason to watch and the plot and script provide a reason to enjoy the thrill. This movie takes you on an exciting adventure of an effort to rob one man's casinos in order to earn money and love. The writers George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell come up with twists and turns for every heart-stopping sequence leaving no question unanswered by the time the film is done.
The Ocean's Eleven version that I chose to watch is the remake of a 1960 film starring Frank Sinatra. The plot was very similar, with the leader being Danny Ocean, and although they robbed five casinos instead of three and the names were different, overall the basis is very similar. It is really interesting to watch a film that's a remake especially when the ideas are from so long ago. The technology was so different in 2001 compared to 1960, and since technology is a key aspect to the plan of the heist I can only imagine how difficult it must have to been to rewrite a script with the modern terms and ideas incorporated, I'm sure it changed a lot of the movie, however they still very much relate and have the same foundation.
The plot is set up by the divorce of Danny (Clooney) and Tess (Roberts) Ocean. Danny is a con-artist with a history of failing his wife. Once they're divorced she meets the owner of several hotel casinos in Las Vegas, Terry Benedict. Danny is finally released after his serving his prison sentence and his jealousy gets the best of him as he decides to go after Benedict. However, his plan wasn't to beat him up or slash his tires. Instead, the revenge was to rob his three Las Vegas hotel-casinos for 163 million dollars. He recruited a team of friends who were in the same "business" as him and all had very exact specialties to contribute to the project. Near the beginning of the movie the viewer gets to know each team member, as the viewer travels to where they each live and observe them in their day-to-day activities. They have a specialist who can fold himself up small enough to fit in a steel restaurant box, a computer hacking specialist, and a couple elder gentlemen who have been around the block and know how to play the game. The whole process of robbing the hotel is pretty unrealistic. I could never even come up with the ideas that are used and especially would never guess the twist at the end. The whole movie builds up to a scene near the end, where it is fully revealed how they completed the robbery. I found it mind-blowing and that ending scene really completes the movie by summing it all up.
Throughout the whole movie the viewer feels as though they're in the dark on some matters. It seems like the plot is always one step ahead of what you may be thinking and that there is no way to catch up. They always have a plan coming and the viewer is left to struggle along as though a car is dragging them attached to a rope through loopholes and bumps in the road. While this may sound unpleasant, I would caution potential viewers to give it a chance and survive the frustration, because it is very rewarding. The feeling of mystery makes your heart pound in a thrilling way and creates a completely new genre for films with very few members. The first time through it is definitely more confusing then necessary, but watching it multiple times increases the clarity and comprehension.
The clothing selections in the film make the viewer feel like a fly on the wall at a classy, upscale party. Aside from his brief stint in prison, Ocean is never seen without a crisp, expensive black suit and his cohorts are all in suits and ties. Since the heist takes place the night of a big boxing fight, the women are in long ball gowns and men in suits and tuxedos. The clothing takes away any notion of grunge that could be associated with con artist and thieves and replaces it with a look of intelligence that almost commands respect. The suaveness makes the viewer like Ocean and feel badly for him that his wife left him, even though it was completely his fault.
The casino look is completed with the high rollers in tuxes, the dealers in shiny red and gold, and the other gamblers in tacky trying-to-impress clothing. Outfits are even used as disguises throughout whether it's as a casino board member, a hotel staff, or a S.W.A.T team member. It's clear that the costumes were carefully chosen in order to convey the feeling of class.
In this film, the costumes make the setting and set the mood for the film rather than the other way around. They could be in a slimy basement crawling with bugs, but dressed in their suave attire and slick hair, it would look like the Plaza. The mood is created by the costumes as well, since they look like respectable men who are almost too intelligent.