It was fun, funny, exciting, enchanting, imaginative, charming, sweet, genuine, wild etc..

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2002)

The lack of good entertainment in theaters has been becoming more and more noticeable. That sounds silly actually considering it is a fact that most of what we see in a darkened theater is flat out terrible. It tries to please us and no more, and constantly fails. We accept it since we often need distractions, and with DVD's out on the market films have a great opportunity to be repackaged and sold in a whole new light, making decent films seem great, and shitty films seem decent. We all seem to think we're enjoying ourselves but the sad truth is we don't. Or at least I don't. We take what they give, and not only that, but we pay top dollar for it. Well it's an absolute wonder that Ocean's 11 exists.
This film has been heavily hyped from the day Clooney attached every star he could find to it. Then Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brokovich) signed on to direct it and shot my standards for this film way beyond any I believed could be met. Safe to say I finally saw the film today and it delivered. Everywhere I thought it was going to go it didn't... a very rewarding feeling. It was fun, funny, exciting, enchanting, imaginative, charming, sweet, genuine, wild etc.. At first I thought at the very least I was going to watch a fun film. I thought Clooney and the gang would just be up there having a good time and the film would just play itself out to simple satisfaction, but in retrospect what the hell was I thinking! Soderbergh was responsible for having his last 4 films become some of my all time favorites. Make that the last 5.
I can't believe I haven't mentioned the plot. Basically the film revolves around a heist that is set up by the freshly paroled Danny Ocean (Clooney), to rob the vault of 3 las Vegas casinos on night of an event boxing match. Along with Rusty (Pitt) they put together there team (better known as Ocean's 11..get it) and proceed to set it up. The twist and motivation for this heist is Danny's attempt to simultaneously get back his ex-wife Tess (Roberts) who is dating the owner of the 3 casino's (Garcia). Now every single character in this film is perfect. No one tries to steal the show, Clooney leads and they follow and in turn every performance shines. I don't know what I should describe to make you understand how truly enchanting this film is. Perhaps the fact that the scenes between Clooney and Roberts made me feel warm and somewhat breathless is a good way to start. For the few moments they shared on screen I felt as though I had been witness to something I hadn't seen in a film in a while... romance. The dialogue, the look and feel, and the actors... God I felt great. Those moments are sure to become classic (or already are seeing as they do borrow heavily from the classic romances Hollywood once made... also I forgot to mention if you loved the scenes between Clooney and Lopez in Out of Site, be ready to smile at these ones).
Soderbegh definitely knew what he was doing with this film, and has again crafted a masterpiece. I can't stress just how surprised I was with this film. I just wouldn't understand someone not loving it... or at very least liking it. There was passion and sentiments behind the making of the movie. It's right up there on screen, and it is that which makes it great. It put a smile on my face, and though it is just a movie I am glad to have spent a few hours of my life to watch it. I would gladly do so again.