A classy guilty pleasure

Rating: 7/10 (26 May 2007)

Worthy remake of the famous rat pack caper found a whole new pack taking over from Sinatra and the boys with Steven Soderbergh at the helm. Oceans Eleven is a glitzy, snazzy, and most importantly, fun recreation of the classic bank robbery film. The production value alone keeps everything shimmering along quite nicely, but it is the first rate cast, directed through Soderbergh's experienced lens that takes the infectiously entertaining piece over the top.
In less skilled hands the film still would have been a fun, if unnecessary comedy caper diversion, but with this cast and crew becomes one of the most easily digestible and classy pieces of adult fluff entertainment to emerge post-millennium. Sure, the smug ensemble cast tends to wear a little thin after a while, but they are directed in such an entertainingly concise way that their indulgences become our own. Whatever doubt one may cast in the face of so many Hollywood A-listers gathered together to competitively mug the camera becomes cast aside after realizing how smooth the direction really is.
Deceptively elegant, the Las Vegas cinematography compliments Soderbergh's smooth transitions perfectly. For all the late-game revelations that joyously unfold as the robbery occurs, the director really got to shine leading up to that elaborate heist. It is in the seductive filming of this outlandish proposal that elevates the crime comedy to a level of class film of this caliber rarely achieves present day.