Forty Years On

Rating: 6/10 (20 February 2002)

This is not a bad film  but neither is it particularly good. On the plus side, how pleasant to have a caper movie that doesn't involve guns, violence and multifarious `things exploding'. On the down side, however, if it is a caper then it really needs a bit more tension and suspense to engage our attention. The eleven crooks of the title are all OK guys (allowing that Don Cheadle obviously learnt his accent at the Dick Van Dyke School of Cockney). Wouldn't it have been so much more enjoyable if one of the eleven had been incompetent, or even better, a potential traitor in their midst? That really would have injected some tension. But the casino owner (Garcia) is not an OK guy so the outcome can be guessed without too much difficulty.

Then it's all a matter of hi-tech skulduggery as the thieves plot to make their way into the casino vaults in an attempt to help themselves to a cool $160m. The plot has as many holes as a Swiss cheese. But who cares when the whole caper nearly grinds to a halt for want of a couple of AA batteries just after they've managed to black out the whole of Las Vegas.

Many will see this film for no other reason than the star cast list  just like the original version of some 40 years ago. Most of the crew seem to be enjoying themselves and Elliot Gould steals every scene he's in. Julia Roberts wanders in and out, although quite why is anyone's guess. She looks lost and confused for much of the time. But then she does appear in the credits as `Introducing Julia Roberts' so maybe she's right to look perplexed by all that's going on around her.
If you've nothing to better to do on a wet Wednesday in Wigan this would be a harmless and reasonably enjoyable way of whiling away a couple of hours. But if it's real excitement or suspense you're after don't bother. It ends on a worrying note  a potential sequel seems to be lined up. Let's hope it's another 40 years before it gets made. That way I, for one, won't give a damn, by then being in the great movie (rather than casino) vault in the sky.