Clever crime caper, but not quite among the best of the genre

Rating: 6/10 (1 November 2002)

I love crime caper flicks and this one is pretty good and made better by the all-star cast. I haven't seen the original Oceans 11 starring the Rat Pack, so a comparison can't be made, and probably isn't fair, really. As with any good caper movie, you have a man fresh out of the clink (Clooney) who plans the one big job that will set him for life and allow him to take the straight and narrow when its done. We follow the recruitment of the old gang, the planning, and assorted hi-jinx along the way. The characters are interesting enough, with a mixed bag of old-time Vega$ types as well as some young nerdlings and assorted hipsters thrown in the mix, makes for an entertaining bunch. The plot is to rob three casinos at once and actually is quite elaborate. One thing I dug about it was that they slowly revealed how the robbery would take place, so your are kept in the dark for much of the movie. To complicate matters, Clooney targets one of the casinos because his ex is seeing the owner. Normally, this would seem like a contrivance to bring in the 'chick flick' audience (Doesn't having Clooney in a movie already bring in the chicks??), but it tosses a kink into their plans, so I'll let is slide. The movie is entertaining enough to recommend, but doesn't quite stand up against the best caper flicks.