All-star ensemble cast caper movies don't work!!

Rating: 6/10 (24 December 2001)

Ocean's 11 is another ensemble all-star-cast caper movie. As such, it is one of the best of that lot, but overall that lot is a sorry lot. Ocean's 11 reminded most recently of a similar ensemble caper flick of a few year's back, "Sneakers" (1992)with Robert Redford and Sidney Poitier. The reason ensemble cast caper films don't work is that there are too many characters for any of them to get developed in the course of a 2 hour movie. Both of these films (Ocean's 11 and Sneakers) therefore come off as shallow, undeveloped, and slight. One of the big attractions of Ocean's 11, that gets us into the theater in the first place, is Julia Roberts, but her character is so poorly developed here that she is little more than window dressing and we never understand her motivations (in fact, she doesn't actually do anything in this movie, when you come right down to it.) The saving grace of Ocean's 11 is the stylish, sophisticated filmic style brought to it by Steven Soderbergh. Is is so, so refreshing to see a crime picture without a lot of gunfire. Still, my wife complained as we left the theater that the film didn't have a climax. You be the judge--the whole film is a mixed bag that way.