More than a drop in the ocean.

Rating: 10/10 (19 February 2005)

Danny Ocean has a problem. The casino boss that he and his band of thieves stole from wants his money back. Worse of all he wants it with interest, and all in two weeks. If Danny and his team want to stay alive, they have to come up with a way of getting the money to him fast, or they will be dead. Flying to Amsterdam, Rome, and Paris, Danny, Rusty and the rest of the team have to commit a series of robberies to raise the money and outdo not only their own high standards, but also their competition while all the time being watched by a sexy Interpol agent who is determined to bring them down. After the success of Oceans 11, the knives seem to have come out for Oceans 12 but I for one loved it.. This is a movie with more stars than an astrologist's convention, and with a sharp script and a glamorous location the film is always silky smooth .There is something about being a movie fan that lets you dismiss any stretch of a storyline or any leap of credibility as long as there is another celebrity guest appearance. You are simply along for a ride with some of the hottest and coolest movie stars going, and if you don't feel like a star struck groupie by the end than you are probably not putting enough salt on your popcorn. What Clooney is doing with Oceans 12 is much the same that another actor in the early eighties did when he was at the top of the Hollywood tree. Burt Reynolds was the number one movie star in the world when he made Cannonball Run. The film was not meant to win awards, but instead break box office records and let fans take in Dean Martin, Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Jackie Chan and Farrah Fawcett all in the same frame. This is what Clooney is doing, letting you in on a fun picture that is so wrapped up in a Hollywood sixties style that it just needed Burt Bacharach to throw a melody to it. In a film filled with movie stars none look more quintessentially iconic than Brad Pitt, whose clothes and sunglasses say more about his characters state of mind than any dialogue falling from his lips. Matt Damon, fresh from his Bourne Supremacy, here plays the much less intense Linus, who just wants to take leadership, while Catherine Zeta Jones is drop dead gorgeous as a Interpol agent whose interrogation you would be happy to surrender to. Unfortunately the critics have rounded on the film attacking it for the very thing that seems to set it out for, it's intense style, and blatant use of star power. True, having Julia Roberts play a woman named Tess who in turn pretends to be Julia Roberts may be a tad smug, but by then you've bought into the whole Hollywood tours vibe and the next famous face is one more to tick off on your list. Even Albert Finney makes an appearance, although Bruce Willis moonlighting as himself may have given the critics added venom to their rage. But so what? Oceans 12 is a cool film for all star struck fans amongst us, ,those that aren't, please leave quietly