Lightweight but enjoyable.

Rating: Null/10 (7 December 2001)

After directing gritty movies like "Traffic", "Erin Brockovich" and "Out of Sight", Steven Soderbergh decided to take it easy and create a movie whose sole purpose was to entertain. He's done exactly that with "Ocean's 11", an entertaining piece of fluff that mostly delivers.
George Clooney's Danny Ocean leads an all-star ensemble cast in this remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper picture. Thief and ex-con Ocean has been recently released from prison and is already planning his magnum opus: the theft of $150 million from three Las Vegas casinos owned by Terry Benedict (a glowering Andy Garcia).
Complicating things is the fact that Benedict is bedding Ocean's soon-to-be-ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts). But he can't do it alone, so he recruits his friend Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) and a motley group of shady characters, including Cockney demolitions expert "Basher" Tarr (Don Cheadle), con man Saul Bloom (a scene-stealing Carl Reiner) and light-fingered pickpocket Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon). The larcenous crew is rounded out by Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Shaobo Qin, Scott Caan and Casey Affleck. The latter two are frequently hilarious as bickering fraternal twins.
"Ocean's 11" unfolds smoothly through the standard caper-movie set pieces: the setup, the heist and the getaway. There's lots of snappy patter, played very nicely by the talented cast. Clooney is all charm and hipster cool as ringleader Ocean; it contrasts well with the smoldering Garcia. Cheadle's Tarr is a hoot, if vastly under-used. Brad Pitt especially manages to act rather than just coasting on his good looks.
The only real stumbling block is the romantic triangle involving Danny, Tess and Terry. Roberts and Clooney just don't click. There simply are no sparks between them, as there were between, say, Clooney and Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight. This made it difficult to care about their fractured relationship, and whether or not they would ever make up. In fact, it was pretty much the only sour note in the movie, but it was a big one; to me, it felt tacked on (pretty much like Frank Sinatra and Angie Dickinson in the original).
And so, to sum up this too-long review: "Ocean's 11" is an enjoyable trifle. It's not a classic like "The Sting", but it could have been much worse. My grade: B.