Ocean's 11
Review by By Clint Morris
 Screaming
for recognition but wide-open to criticism, Steven Soderbergh's
remake of rat pack feature Oceans Eleven is a marvel, and
possibly the smartest hand The Oscar Winning Director has
played to date.
Treading through the sacrificial bodies of re-creators before
him - Gus Van Sant (Psycho), Tim Burton (Planet of the Apes)
et al-he manages to overcome any obstacle in his way by not
trying to turn a classic back into a modern day gem. Simply,
Soderbergh is retooling a pastel-plain Rat Pack flick from
a grape and turning it into a tasteful, universally appealing
punnet of Caviar. In other words, Oceans Eleven is a cool
classy caper!
Glittering with Hollywood's biggest stars - Clooney, Pitt,
Roberts, Garcia, Cheadle, Damon - Oceans Eleven is an extremely
engaging popcorn heist movie with it's own distinctive spin
on the genre. And best of all, it doesn't outstay it's welcome.
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is fresh out of the clink and
already planning his next big time robbery. Enlisting the
help of cardsharp Rusty (Pitt), the duo put together a gang
of 11 - hence the title - who'll break into three of Vegas's
biggest Casinos and take home $150 Million dollars.
Clooney's Ocean is the thinker of the group. He's the man
who has put this thing together. He seems to have a slightly
different agenda to the rest of his men. Seems the casino
owner they plan on robbing is Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia),
the filthy-rich creep now dating Ocean's ex-wife, Tess (Julia
Roberts). By film's end, Ocean will, predictably, have made
his way back into the former flame's heart.
Clooney oozes Charisma in the role. Like Redford, Clooney's
becoming one of those actors, who no matter how bad a film
they may be doing, is still great to watch. Unfortunately
we don 't see enough of Roberts, or enough evidence of her
and Clooney's on-screen chemistry to reward her with equal
praise.
Brad Pitt takes second fiddle to Clooney, but steals the
odd scene as his intelligent sidekick, Rusty. In one choice
scene at the start of the film Rusty's teaching a gang of
TV stars how to play cards. What's ingenious here is that
real TV stars - including Josh Jackson, Holly Marie Combs,
Barry Watson and Shane West - are playing themselves.
The supporting cast is engrossed with talent. The standouts
are Scott Caan and Casey Affleck as a couple of ungainly brothers,
who pull their part of the bargain off with ease. Matt Damon's
okay too, though a little wooden as methodical Linus (a role
originally meant for Clooney's mate Mark Wahlberg). Don Cheadle
has little to do than spurt a dreadful Cockney accent, Andy
Garcia sizably better as the smarmy casino boss; while Carl
Reiner is the best he's been in years as vintage thief, Saul.
As many stars as there may be in Oceans Eleven, they are
no equal to Ted Griffin's snappy script. He has pulled off
such an unpredictable, edge-of-your-seat screenplay that smells
fresh and plays swiftly. He's written a movie that mightn't
tax your brain, but heck - it's an enjoyable royal flush if
ever I've witnessed one.
4 out of 5
Ocean's 11
Australian release: Now showing
Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Matt
Damon, Don Cheadle, Julia Roberts, Carl Reiner, Scott Caan,
Casey Affleck, Bernie Mac, Elliot Gould.
Director: Steven Soderberg
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