This movie just wants to have fun!

Rating: Null/10 (7 December 2001)

There are movies that you watch when you want to think. There are movies that you watch when you want to be called to action. There are movies that you watch when you want to cry, or laugh, or be frightened. And there are movies that you watch just for fun. "Ocean's Eleven" is one of the latter type, and it fulfills its purpose with great success.

Recent months have seen several caper/heist films: "The Score" with DeNiro and Norton was fairly positively reviewed, Mamet's "Heist" got praise from Mamet fans, but not too many others, and even back this summer, "Rat Race" might come to mind with its caper/race goofiness. I've been to see them all, and "Ocean's Eleven" is probably my favorite.
"Ocean's Eleven" is not a particularly complicated film, though it's a technically pretty one. It's more along the lines of a "Mission Impossible" idea: lots of plot twists that _look_ very complicated, and feel so, but the details of which aren't so important. And I don't mind at all, really. The point of "Ocean's Eleven" isn't to teach you how to break into a casino, it's to let you have a lot of fun while eleven other people, most of them very pretty, and all of them highly charismatic, do so. And have fun you do, what with the interesting plot twists, hilariously funny moments, and engaging acting.
The film only really loses its momentum (and its sense of fun) during the overdetermined and unnecessary Julia Roberts plot. I'm a Julia Roberts fan, and I love to see her in a movie, but I'm afraid she just didn't belong in this one -- and nor would anyone else have in this part. The addition of a romantic subplot to the main action of the heist seems redundant and unnecessary; more an attempt to give George Clooney some soulful-eye camera time than anything that's actually necessary to the spirit of the film.

Nonetheless, "Ocean's Eleven" remains an engaging, visually pleasing, and overall _fun_ movie. I'd definitely recommend seeing it!