Fun, Laughter-Inducing Film

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2001)

Steven Soderbergh is really beginning to impress me. Being a relatively new fan of his, he caught my eye by punching out two Oscar-nominated films in the year 2000 alone. And showing his versatility, he takes a break from those films and creates a popcorn movie for us, "Ocean's Eleven". But he pulls off something with "Ocean's Eleven" that can rarely be achieved: making a popcorn movie that's excellent and well-crafted.
"Ocean's Eleven" begins in New Jersey, where Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is being questioned to see whether he should be allowed parole. He of course is given the parole (how would this movie have even had a story if he hadn't been granted it?) and immediately after he leaves the slammer, he begins his next heist: robbing three casinos in Las Vegas, which are all owned by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who is currently keeping Danny's ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts) company.
He talks to an old acquaintance named Frank (Bernie Mac) about the whereabouts of his old pal Rusty (Brad Pitt), and is directed to Hollywood, where he finds Rusty getting a paycheck by teaching various young Hollywood actors (led by a very funny Topher Grace and including Holly Marie Combs, Joshua Jackson, Shane West and Barry Watson) how to play poker. He talks to Rusty about his heist plans, and they both decide they need to assemble a crew. They acquire the aid of eleven criminals, and as a team, plan the biggest heist yet that Danny has put together.
This movie was great from the first cell of celluloid to the last. The story was good and the script made the story even better. The lines were believable and never failed to have me rolling in my seat.
The movie was paced well; I didn't feel like I was watching a 117 minute movie. The plot rolls smoothly and takes it's time, making Danny's planning as well as the actual heist move at a good and believable pace. We don't have five minutes of planning and two hours of the heist, or vice versa. Each section of the movie has enough time to breath.
The acting was great as well, which is what you can expect with a cast like this. George Clooney put in a great performance as Danny Ocean; he represented the character really well and let you understand his motives and backgrounds. Brad Pitt also did an excellent job as Rusty; he was often stealing scenes from George Clooney and the rest of the eleven. Everyone that was in George Clooney's assembled team did an excellent job as well, especially Elliot Gould as the millionaire, Casey Affleck and Scott Caan as the drivers and masters of disguises, and Don Cheadle as a British bomber. And Julia Roberts did a good job as Danny's bitter ex-wife--you could almost feel the ice when she would bicker with Danny and retort at his remarks.
It's rare that a movie meant to not be an artistic one can have great cinematography, but "Ocean's Eleven" has accomplished that feat. There are some great shots taken during a scene where the guys are trying to escape from a building but also trying to save Linus (Matt Damon) as well--lots of "underneath of the runner" shots. And the angling used during some of the scenes throughout the heist looked very pretty.
"Ocean's Eleven" was a great movie to watch. Not a masterpiece or anything, but it wasn't supposed to be a masterpiece. It was supposed to be a fun movie. And that's what I got: a fun movie. Only this fun movie had a bonus for it's audiences: being crafted well.
10/10, A