Clever heist, precisely executed with more than one prize.

Rating: 9/10 (10 March 2002)

Expertly woven show, tell and reveal Las Vegas heist from Steven Soderbergh. Andy Garcia gives a chillingly believable nice/nasty portrayal of the coldly professional gaming boss. George Clooney and Brad Pitt spark off each other wonderfully to show two old mates who are out to work a spectacular, intelligent and meticulously planned robbery.
Recruitment of the team is amusingly handled and you soon grow to love this diverse parcel of rogues. Refreshingly, the concentration of so much testosterone didn't unleash the usual torrent of swearing, which helped make it such a hit with my young teenagers, for me.
Even with Don Cheadle's tongue-in-cheek cockney as Basher, this was a hugely enjoyable, rollocking ride of criminal precision and a study in predicted behaviour of the victim.
Julia Roberts was nicely understated in what turns out to be a pivotal character in the story. But I just couldn't quite believe the final choice she made.
This is a good movie. Go see it. You won't be disappointed.
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Was that really a mike I saw carelessly bobbing around over Mr Clooney's head during the opening scene, in the UK release ?