I want my money back, Soderbergh

Rating: Null/10 (25 December 2001)

What was Steven Soderbergh thinking by making this film? It is just plain awful. In my opinion, Soderbergh has always been an uneven filmmaker at best--someone who shows great creativity and promise in some ways, but in others just makes really mediocre movies. This remake of the original "Ocean's 11" is definitely one of his more mediocre outings, perhaps his most. I can't figure out why Soderbergh would be interested in remaking a film such as "Ocean's 11" in the first place, but I guess he has a soft spot in his director's genes for crime genre-type flicks ("The Underneath", "Out of Sight"). What doesn't work for me in this film is everything. It's all so very flat and pointless. The plot is rushed, boring, and has several holes; the acting is not very engaging; the underlying sexism in the Julia Roberts' character ("O find me a man, a rich man or a gambling criminal or just any man!")is disturbing (especially considering how fond Soderbergh usually is of more self-assured female characters); and the soundtrack, devoid of longtime co-worker Cliff Martinez's usually engaging ambient musical genius, is more like that of a 70s porn film than anything else. This film is also devoid, for the most part, of two of Soderbergh's most powerful stylistic features: flashbacks and those visual time distortion things he is so fond of, where characters are having dialogue at one point in time, but the visuals are moving forwards and backwards in time. I always hope for the best when I watch a movie by Steven Soderbergh, but I usually come away with a mixed and unsatisfied reaction to what I experience. "Ocean's 11" was definitely a Soderbergh low point for me.