Damn good robbery movie

Rating: Null/10 (21 May 2002)

Ocean's Eleven reminded me of "Sneakers", another high tech robbery movie with a stellar cast, silly characters, and funny dialogue. George Clooney was especially funny as Ocean, the leader of the misfit heist team.
Casino owner: "I know everything that goes on in my hotels." Ocean: "Then I guess you want me to return those towels."
Elliot Gould was great and very funny as the ultra-tacky, stuck in the 70's, ex-casino owner. Others in the cast also did well with there funny "Joe Friday" style one liners.
The robbery plan was mostly implausible, but had plenty of plausible points mixed in. The exit plan was staged like a Vegas magic show with elaborate illusion and misdirection used to mask the exit of the team as they literally walked out of the casino with $150 million in cash! You'll have to watch the movie to see how they did it.
Every heist movie has a step where they "cut the power". This movie decided to have fun with the idea when the team effortlessly took a Volkswagen sized "bomb" from some university lab. The thing looks like some sort of glowing crystal device straight out of Star Trek. This device causes no physical destruction at all, but just kills the power grid for 30 seconds. You're supposed to laugh at something so ridiculous. They could have left this step out. Critics like Ebert took it seriously and faulted the movie.
The casino robbery is inventive, and the dialogue is funny. If you liked "Sneakers" you'll like Ocean's Eleven.