Competent cast, slick plot, funky soundtrack

Rating: Null/10 (16 April 2002)

Danny Ocean has just got out of jail. He's a free man. All he has to do is keep his nose clean, stay in the state and report to a parole officer several times a week. So with a chance at a clean life Danny comes to a decision, he's going to leave the state, hire a crackpot team of criminals and rob three of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. And so the plot of Steven Soderbergh's remake of the 60s crime thriller Ocean's Eleven, unfolds. Danny (George Clooney) recruits a highly trained team of specialists including card shark Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), a speedy pickpocket Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) and an explosives expert Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) who pulls of a cockney accent admirably to great humour throughout the film. With the highly camp, medallion-wearing Reuben Tishkoff played by veteran actor Elliot Gould supplying the money for the operation, the crew plan to steal over $150 million from casinos owned by the slippery, venomous Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). The film is tightly directed by Oscar-winner Soderbergh who allows the Hollywood ensemble to play off each other in coolness and laughs. And laughs are the most important element to the movie. Without comedy the film would just be about a group of slick, hotshot criminals in suits. Clooney and the other ten specialists all have flaws and though their operations leading up to the heist itself are brilliantly planned, the suited men run into problems such as when they steal equipment from a California lab. Matt Damon only does pick-pocketing so breaking in and stealing equipment isn't his speciality so he's left in the van with two brothers of the team whilst the others brake in. Damon gets so tired of the brother's bickering that he sets off to help the others in the lab. As he goes in one door, the others rush out another door with the equipment and drive away leaving a panicking Damon to scramble across a rooftop and jump on top of the van whilst being shot at by security guards. The film uses several different points of view throughout the plot to allow the story to run smoothly and build suspense but it never hides too much for too long. A downfall of many thrillers is that they rely on a twist, which is sewn throughout the film but leaves the audience feeling cheated. Ocean's Eleven cuts away only briefly from events to build suspense and therefore remains convincing but more importantly, comes across as an honest account. Clooney and Pitt have chemistry but it doesn't boil down to much just two good actors dressed in suits acting well together, nothing spectacular. Supporting roles by the young Cheadle and Damon are excellent and Elliot Gould doesn't disappoint. Julia Roberts puts in the only bad performance of the whole film. Playing Danny Ocean's ex-wife Tess, Roberts is wooden in movement, her acting is bland, if it can be called acting, and suggests maybe Roberts wasn't available at the time and the film's producers used a look-alike doll instead. She could have done a lot better as has been shown with roles such as Erin Brocovich, also directed by Soderbergh and though not having much screen time, manages to bring the film down a peg. That said, Ocean's Eleven is still a worthy watch and thanks to a competent cast, a catchy soundtrack and a slick plot, the film raises just above the usual Hollywood no-brainer.