Simply brilliant

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2018)

Ocean's Eleven sets out to be an engaging, thrilling yet fun heist movie, and it manages to accomplish just that. It's stunning, it's simple, it's brilliant. Everything about the movie, from the pacing to the acting and dialogue, is done with so much thought and so well.
Ocean's Eleven has quite the typical heist film plot. A criminal, Danny Ocean (played by George Clooney) plans to pull off possibly the biggest heist in the history of the United States, planning to rob $160 million from three casinos in one night. It's no easy task, and he seeks out a team of people (eleven, to be exact), of which include great actors such as Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Carl Reiner.
I think it's easily the acting that makes this heist film such a standout from other similar films. Matt Damon is so innocent and yet so powerful, and Carl Reiner plays Saul very well, but for me the two best actors had to be George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Together their characters Danny and Rusty lead the team in real style, right from the get-go. Clooney plays his character stunningly, honestly yet with plenty of fun injected into it. Brad Pitt shines in his role, just so...amazing. The highlight of his character for me was easily when he casually got Basher out of an arrest.
The dialogue in this movie couples itself perfectly with the acting. It's just such witty, fun dialogue. It's the type of dialogue many may cringe at, but if you're watching this movie you've got to remember that it's just trying to have fun. Everything from the content, the timing, the delivery of the lines, is done so well.
Personally, and rather obviously, the highlight of the film had to be the heist. The movie doesn't waste time getting to the heist like other heist films (I'm looking at you Fast Five...which actually copied an awful lot from this movie), and once it gets to the heist it doesn't muck around. It just rolls with it, and it has plenty of witty fun along the way. The heist itself is clever, it's smart, it's brilliantly thought out by the characters and more importantly the writers of the movie.
My two only gripes are rather minor; the ending and Basher's accent. I'm not even British but the cockney accent that Don Cheadele puts on can't possibly fool anyone; it's just so unnecessary and whoever suggested he use one should be fired. Also, I don't want to spoil the ending but I feel it could have gone just a little further. It's still great, it's just that it could have been perhaps more satisfying. Still, that's why there are sequels.
Ocean's Eleven is just such a clever and yet heist film. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a thriller or is just looking for a quick way to kill two hours. You won't regret it.