Turn the 'hip' knob to 11

Rating: 7/10 (23 December 2001)

Director Steven Soderbergh (who won an Oscar for 2000's Traffic) achieved what most film-makers probably couldn't do: knock Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone out of the #1 box office spot after only 3 weeks on top. Soderbergh's film, Ocean's Eleven grossed $38.1 million on it's opening weekend, devastating Potter's $14.7 million. How exactly did he perform this feat? Well, being able to put names like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon on the bill couldn't have hurt.
The television commercials for Ocean's Eleven manage to introduce 4 or 5 of the main characters, but that doesn't totally do the cast justice. George Clooney (who previously worked with Soderbergh on 1998's Out of Sight) stars as recently released prisoner, Danny Ocean. Ocean and partner, Dusty Ryan (played by Brad Pitt), assemble an all-star group of differently-skilled criminals to aid in their robbery of 3 major Las Vegas casinos. Ocean's Eleven consists of Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Don Cheadle and 5 more names you'll probably recognize. That 70's Show's Topher Grace (who appeared in Traffic) and Dawson's Creek's Joshua Jackson briefly appear as themselves in a poker game in one of the opening scenes. Andy Garcia also shines as the owner of the 3 target casinos. The cast is truly massive, and many of the stars go underused, most notably Julia Roberts who plays Danny's ex-wife Tess, who happens to be dating Andy Garcias character. Roberts is, for reasons unbeknownst to me, listed proceeding an `and introducing' in the closing credits. Now, if you've seen the commercials, you probably noticed that they're quite unorthodox. The first time I saw one, I didn't know what to make of it. The plot was totally unclear, and it was so hip and stylish it would make Quentin Tarintino green with envy. Well, that hip style is not only represented in the casting but also (more so, even) in the editing. There's a few chic-looking cuts on image/shape, several split screens, and more fancy cuts than you can shake a stick at. The soundtrack is mostly cool-sounding jazz, which is a reasonable update from the Rat Pack-era that the original film was made in. The costumes are practically taken straight from the pages of GQ. The budget on sunglasses alone in this movie would probably rival that of the entire filming of The Blair Witch Project.
As for the plot, it's divided into three main sections: the opening (character introductions, plot development, etc.), the middle (planning of the heist and training of the crew) and the ending (the execution of the robbery). The movie as a whole is quite fast paced. I didn't stop to look at my watch once during its approximately 100 minute duration. Each of the three parts of the movie are consistently stylish, funny, action-packed and just plain entertaining. The dialogue has it's moments of cliché, but those don't take away from the overall likability of the movie. Screenplay writer Ted Griffin more than successfully updated the 1960 version of this movie for a suave, modern audience. Overall, Ocean's Eleven is the kind of movie you can just sit back and enjoy. The pacing is quick, and the dialogue is funny, the action is, well, also funny, and it's so packed with stars that Carl Sagan may come back from the dead just to study it. 7.5 out of a possible 10.