Exceptional!

Rating: 8/10 (10 November 2002)

Like Mission: Impossible's excellence in espionage performance, Ocean's Eleven follows along the same track with cunning thievery, great cast, enjoyable music, and above average plot. I was surprised to find this movie to be much, much more than a dim-witted attempt at something like Gone in 60 Seconds (which was a poor remake of an ancient film).
George Clooney hits the spotlight as a recently released prisoner. He wants to go back to his life of crime and rob a ring of casinos in Las Vegas. Immediately the movie jumps into the plot, as he meets up with Brad Pitt's character and together they plan the world's greatest robbery. The amount of time spent and effort put into this theft is amazing, and I could not tear my eyes away from the screen as their plan slowly took form. The moviemakers surely have brains with enormous capacity to do all this.
Ocean's Eleven is based off an older movie, but I'm not sure how closely it matches its counterpart. I've not seen it, so I can't comment on that.
The music, although not a huge part of the movie, was great and fit in perfectly. Not too heavy and loud, but up enough so that it filled the atmosphere with a sneaky attitude that made me think of the NOC list download in Mission: Impossible.
The only downside I can find of Ocean's Eleven is the huge lack of character development. Most of the super-thieves we meet in the movie are hardly explained. We know little about them. They are a great addition to the movie, and some of them provide excellent comic relief, but I felt the audience should know a little more about them.
That problem is nothing compared to the sheer brilliance of this movie. It kept me intrigued the entire time, as the actual theft began no less than halfway through the movie.
I was extremely impressed by Ocean's Eleven. I can recommend it to anybody, as it has no nudity or extreme violence. The language gets a little harsh at some points, but overall it's a decent movie. The actual idea of thievery is underscored by a deeper purpose which attempts to send a clear message that thievery is still not right. Morals, although masked, are still present in this exceptional movie.