Its not very often that a remake of a movie improves on the original, but Oscar winning director Steven Soderberghs updated version of "Oceans Eleven" is far more enjoyable than the 196

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2002)

The twenty first century version may not feature the epitomisers of sharply dressed cool that were Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack  Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop  but it does feature some of the biggest movie stars in the world today including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon.
Clooney steps into Sinatras shoes as Danny Ocean, a brilliant con artist who decides after his release from Prison to put together a small team  the "Oceans Eleven" of the title  to undertake a robbery on a scale no one else has ever attempted; stealing $150M from the underground vault of three of Las Vegas biggest Casinos. The elaborate plan involves a series of clever deceptions, most of which are refreshingly not signposted to the audience in advance. Although that means that youre never quite sure what will happen next as the elaborate robbery and its many attendant scams unfold, the supreme confidence of Clooney and his team means you never really doubt that they wont succeed. However, perhaps surprisingly, this doesnt take from your enjoyment of the film. It has an eminently watchable cast, with Clooney and Pitt in particular creating an onscreen chemistry reminiscent of Paul Newman and Robert Redford in "The Sting." Only Don Cheadle lets the side down with a frankly awful supposedly cockney accent and terrible dialogue as an English munitions expert. The soundtrack from DJ David Holmes succeeds in combing the cool allure of Sinatra & co with the best of todays dance music, and the films fast moving, slick & confident visual style, quite simply, makes it a joy to watch.