Rebirth of the Cool

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2002)

Spoiler warning, of course. When cinema historians look back on the late nineties/early noughties work of Steve Soderbergh they will surely marvel that any director could have such a rich and fertile few years, producing hit after hit, charming both critics and audiences alike. How long can this last? Who cares, when the stuff he comes up with is as exciting and entertaining as this? "The Limey", "Erin Brockovich", "Traffic" and now "Ocean's Eleven". Every one of them, in their own way and on their own terms, a classic. Soderbergh, as director and - under a pseudonym - cinematographer, creates in each of his recent films a richly-textured, brilliantly-coloured, thoroughly watchable entertainment. For what it's worth, this is Soderbergh in full-on Hollywood mode, packing his film with regulars Clooney, Roberts and Cheadle, along with newcomers to the fold - Pitt, Damon, Garcia and - holy cow - Elliot f**ckin Gould. How could this film be anything other than fantastic? Easily, actually, in the hands of just about anyone else. Imagine if this were your standard Hollywood fare, full of fast, meaningless action, pointless violence, desperately unamusing dialogue, crap sentiment and, probably, unnecessary sex. How cool would that be? But, in the hands of Soderbergh, the come-back kid himself, this is subtle, fast-paced yet somehow leisurely, effortlessly cool and crammed with smart dialogue: check out the two scenes with Clooney and Roberts - the first is non-stop back-and-forth, harking back to the great days of Howard Hawks without being irritating or post-f**cking-modern, while the second seems to be heading in the same direction when Clooney suddenly stops it in its tracks with the great line: "I just came to say goodbye". And there's a shot of the two of them, in profile, looking at each other, and the film pauses to let us savour this moment, and it is, quite simply, superb. All involved seem to be aware this is the chance to make something entertaining and memorable and - yes, I'll say it again - cool. Clooney is breathtaking to watch. Pitt is hilarious. Roberts is either falling to bits (are her lips natural? It seems unlikely) or gorgeous, depending on the lighting. Is this Soderbergh's little joke? Cheadle is great value, as always, as the cockney electronics expert (I'm not making this up). His accent is just one of the many incidental pleasures of this fine movie. Matt Damon is as unirritating as it's possible for Matt Damon to be. Draw your own conclusions. Elliott f**ckin Gould is f**ckin great, of course.
The robbery itself is meticulous and ridiculous and completely unbelievable, but in a good way. Soderbergh and Ted Andrews (who wrote the damn thing and deserves a great deal of credit) are clever enough to realise that what really makes this film is the relationship between the chief protagonists.
Meanwhile, Soderbergh's talents as a cinematographer are on full display again. He must be getting bored with people going on about how great his films look, but really, is there anyone else out there (apart, maybe, from the Coen Brothers at their best, and Terry Zwigoff) who understands how to make a movie look so seductively brilliant (in both senses of the word)? That last sentence is a mess, but I kind of like it, so I'm keeping it in. I have to go now - parole hearing - but I'll leave you with one final message: see "Ocean's Eleven" and remind yourself how great Hollywood populist art can be.