Snazzy, slick, witty, and cool

Rating: 10/10 (12 December 2001)

Whoever called this entertaining movie a "lifeless disappointment" 1) obviously does not represent the majority of reviewers here who loved it and 2) needs to stop watching "reality" TV shows and see what a real story with interesting characters looks like. This modern version of "Ocean's 11" is vast improvement over the original boring version with the original crassy players known as the Rat Pack. Why they were considered "cool" must've been a baby boomer thing but I'll tell you this: Frank Sinatra never wore a suit with such elan as Brad Pitt does. Thank god for George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh who were smart enough to throw out everything that was wrong with the first one and got it right with the second one. All of the actors obviously had a blast making this movie and it shows. They are also perfectly casted, except for Julia Roberts, who is too plain-looking to be a casino owner's girlfriend (she also needs to learn how to walk in high heels). As an interesting aside: Clooney has more screen chemistry with Pitt than he does with Roberts. Every scene that either Clooney or Pitt is in is thoroughly entertaining. I hope that the scene-stealing older actors, Elliot Gould and Carl Reiner, were giving out free actling lessons to the young'uns: Affleck, Damon, and Caan. With this movie, it is easy to see why Clooney and Pitt are movie stars and easier still to see that Steven Soderbergh is the new "Steven" any smart actor in Hollywood should be knocking down the door to work with. An excellent job. Highly recommended.