Taut and stylish heist thriller

Rating: Null/10 (14 January 2002)

Fresh from his Oscar success for Best Director and Picture (Traffic) as well as coaxing Julia Roberts to Best Actress (Erin Brokovich), Steven Soderbergh is certainly flavour of the moment. It's probably due to this flush of recent successes that he has managed to resuscitate what would seem at first glance to be an unlikely candidate for a remake. The original Ocean's Eleven was made in 1960 with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jnr and the rest of the so-called 'Rat Pack' of that time.
Ocean's Eleven are the eleven people chosen by fresh-out-of-jail ringleader Danny Ocean (George Clooney). They are selected for the particular skills they have as pickpockets, computer whizzes, card sharps and acrobats. The aim? To simultaneously rob three Las Vegas casinos owned by creepy billionaire Terence Benedict (Andy Garcia). The plan calls for an elaborate series of scams and is complicated by the fact that Ocean's ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts) is now the girlfriend of Benedict. The reward? One hundred and sixty million dollars in cash locked away in a heavily-guarded underground vault.
Soderbergh has, against the odds, managed to create a taut and stylish heist thriller. If anything, it's probably top heavy with a few too many big names. Although they look attractive and can certainly act, they tend at times to distract from the story. The high profiles of actors such as Julia Roberts often overshadow the characters they're playing.
One of the standout performances is Andy Garcia who gives a cold, calculating and unnerving performance as Terence Benedict, the control-freak casino owner. George Clooney turns on his trademark smooth, self-deprecating charm and Brad Pitt is charismatic and dependable as the clever sidekick Dusty Ryan. Matt Damon is not as annoying as he has been in most of his movies since Good Will Hunting and is actually not too bad as pickpocket Linus Caldwell.
Ocean's Eleven is definitely a class above The Score, another recent and similar heist movie. It has more tension, a better plot with more twists and a director currently on a creative roll. It also looks great with edgy camerawork and skilful lighting that makes everyone look good in an old-fashioned luminous Hollywood kind of way.
A very sophisticated effort, jam-packed with an incredible cast of 'A' list actors. Ocean's Eleven scores 7.5/10