Ocean's Cool

Rating: 9/10 (21 December 2001)

Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven" epitomizes cool with a classy ensemble cast, sharp dialog, romance, and robbery. Leading the pack is George Clooney as Danny Ocean who as the movie begins is just released from prison. Being the reformed man that he is, Ocean quickly devises a scheme to rob the 3 biggest casinos in Las Vegas-- the Bellagio, the MGM Grand, and the Mirage.
All of them are owned by Terry Benedict played with icy ruthlessness by Andy Garcia. Also Terry is now with Tess Ocean, Danny's ex-wife. Danny seeks out his point man, gambler, Rusty Ryan (Brad Piit). Rusty and Danny get a financier and begin assembling Ocean's 11. It soon becomes evident to Rusty (Pitt): Is this about the $160 million or Tess? If it were only about the money, "Ocean's Eleven" would be an exercise. It is not.
George Clooney is a movie star. His Danny Ocean is slick, smart, and a charmer with an underlying substance-- he's a romantic. Brad Pitt is also at his best as Rusty. Pitt exudes the charisma and cool, and he is also very funny. There is hilarious running gag where Pitt is eating something in almost every scene. Clooney and Pitt together nail the crisp and very lean dialog. Julia Roberts is particularly sullen here which is called for in the role, surprisingly out of character for her. The great supporting cast includes Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, and Carl Reiner, who all have their moments to shine. Soderbergh orchestrates the movie cohesively with great style. I saw a Barbara Walters interview with the cast of "Oceans Eleven" where Clooney said that Steven was not making a statement movie with "Ocean's". He is correct. What Soderbergh made is a fun and entertaining movie with a very talented cast.