A movie that's beneath Sodenberg's talents

Rating: 5/10 (14 May 2002)

I didn't know what to expect since I never saw the original and avoided
watching the trailers as much as possible.
It was hip. It was cool. But that's about it. I get the impression that's all they tried for. The acting was fine. The actors were all obviously having a good time making it. They're all criminals, but we end up liking them.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
Julia Roberts was put into the film for obvious reasons. First, she's bankable. With all these popular actors in it, some eye candy was wanted. After all, this takes place in glitzy Las Vegas. Polls have shown she's the most popular
actress around. Plus her character serves a purpose where the Andy Garcia
character can get burned even more than if their romantic subplot didn't exist.
Personally, I agree she didn't need to be in it. The subplot of her and Garcia felt calculated to me. It was just there to make me feel better that Garcia lost twice to Clooney. It made no sense to me whatsoever for Julia Roberts to go back to Clooney. I thought she was tired of his days of theft and lying. If she didn't care about those things, she would have stayed with Garcia.

I'm often criticized for my lack of ability to suspend my disbelief and that I think too much about things that seem minor to others. But why are these guys even
being made to look cool and heroic anyway? They just ripped off 3 casinos of
many, MANY millions. Doesn't a lot of this money go to pay wages of lots of
workers who need the money more? Doesn't a lot of it pay taxes in the state
that serve the citizens of Nevada? Who's going to make up the loss? If the
casinos get reimbursed by insurance, won't that mean higher premiums for
those who can afford it the least?
Another thing that bugged me is how can they even get away with it? I assume
that the casinos aren't really run by only Andy Garcia. Wouldn't the mob have a strong hold in it as well? I doubt they would appreciate the loss and would use all their power and influence to find the thieves.
How did these guys build an exact replica of the vault? Why did Andy Garcia
allow Matt Damon to go the room alone? Why did he release George Clooney to
the police? If he really suspected Clooney and was as heartless as we're
supposed to think he is, why wasn't the truth tortured out of Clooney?

The answer to all these questions is that the movie is just there to pander to the audience and make them think they're cool. We're made to like them from
the start because they're good-looking, friendly, use hip language, dress well, drink and eat the best liquor and food, hang around with celebrities, and know how to gamble against boring kids.
I like Sodenberg's movies otherwise. I'm a fan of SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE;
OUT OF SIGHT; ERIN BRONKOVICH; and especially TRAFFIC. And I really have to
get around to check out KING OF THE HILL and KAFKA. But this movie was
beneath him. Take away the slick camera works and the moving subtitles and
credits and you have a very lame story.