Cool and clever dialogue makes this a guilty pleasure

Rating: 8/10 (10 January 2003)

Ocean's Eleven is never going to be mistaken for Shakespeare. However, its cool and clever dialogue and typical heist hijinks makes it a good popcorn movie, especially in light of its all-star cast.
While there is some truth that at some points the cast gets so cool they almost seem asleep, for the most part they fulfill their primary purpose: to deliver their well-written quips and, basically, look good. George Clooney and Brad Pitt are terrific at this, and Andy Garcia is both menacing and cool as the casino owner that the gang targets, for multiple reasons. Scott Caan and Casey Affleck are funny as ever-quarrelling brothers. It is delightful to see Elliot Gould and Carl Reiner in meaty supporting roles; so often, Reiner only makes cameo appearances, and I can't remember the last time Gould was fully engaged in a role -- maybe American History X, and before that who knows? Julia Roberts operates on autopilot as she isn't given much to do here, and the normally outstanding Don Cheadle affects an atrocious Cockney accent and utters the worst pseudo-cool lines: "We're in Barney ... Barney. Barney Rubble. TROUBLE!!" Oh, please. As for his voice, think Nicolas Cage in "Peggy Sue Got Married", and you'll get an idea how annoying it is.
All that aside, the movie starts out slowly but builds momentum throughout. Soderberg uses the camera stylishly (what else is new?) and gives the heist genre a new look. Lastly, the score is terrific and matches up with the dialog and action, but never overpowers it. Obviously, this is lightweight material, especially for Soderberg after "Traffic" and "Erin Brockovich", but give the man a break -- he's allowed to do something for pure fun occasionally. That's what this movie is, pure popcorn-munching fun. Are you in or out? I'm in for an 8.