Ocean's Eleven Review
by Karina Montgomery (cinerina AT flash DOT net)December 19th, 2001
Ocean's 11
Rental
With such a winsome cast, how could a remake of a dreary Rat Pack hoke-fest be anything less extraordinary than decent? Well, apparently by letting Ted Griffin (Ravenous) adapt the 1960 screenplay, and letting Steven Soderbergh direct it. Yes, THAT Steven Soderbergh, formerly of the forgettable Gray's Anatomy and The Underneath and recently Oscar bait from Traffic and Erin Brockovich. Can you imagine? I even liked Ravenous, except for the horrible music. I know Ocean's 11 didn't make an impression on me when I had to struggle to remember that I saw it a week before I started writing. I will admit, this is the first time I have ever found Brad Pitt sexy, which may surprise some of you. Unfortunately, I've noticed that Brad is usually either playing "sexy" or "a good actor," with occasional and welcome forays into "funny guy next door," and, like Bruce Willis (hair=bad, bald=good), one can predict his performance just by watching the preview. But I squibble. Brad was perfectly fine, as were Julia, George, DonŠ
Here's a clue - I had to check the IMDB just to recall who else was in the movie. Oh yeah, huge star Matt Damon, cultish star Casey Affleck, and old warhorse Carl Reiner. It was frustrating not to be impressed, it was annoying to only occasionally be engaged, and it was not refreshing to see another movie shot in Vegas about Vegas and about stealing. Obviously, it was far better than 3000 Miles To Graceland, but only because it was never really insulting. And Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner were nowhere in sight.
I like a heist movie, especially one with sexy people doing pretty complex and daring things in interesting locations, but I do want to think that they pulled it off with their brains and skills, not just an astounding Vegas-style run of super-luck. I don't want to give it away, but it's not unlike the infamous Powerbook interfacing with the Independence Day aliens kind of run of luck. So, there you have it. It's merely OK, but it is completely watchable, and equally forgettable.
George Clooney is the titular Ocean, who assembles a crew of (guess how many) to rob some casinos. It's a big deal, and the actors by and large seem to have a great sense of fun together on screen. The fun only filters off the screen and into the audience a little bit - we are too involved in checking to see who has the best hair to really get into the characters, and the plot certainly doesn't give us many opportunities to sweat nervously. This is disappointing. It has also been excruciating to attempt to say much about what should have been the star power explosion of the year. I mean, my god, look at all these sexy people, conventional and unconventional. Look at Elliot Gould, for goodness sakes, and a severely Britishized Don Cheadle. This is an odd choice but I have to say, it made the film infinitely more interesting. As the weeks pass I find that his lines and Julia Roberts' outfits are about all I have taken away as memories of that move.
Why they chose to remake the cheesy genesis of the Rat Pack, a slightly dated notion of Vegas as a city of hope and wonder, I will never know. It is nice that no one sang this time, however. That would have been too much for too little.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These reviews (c) 2001 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but just credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks.
[email protected]
Check out previous reviews at:
http://www.cinerina.com
http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com - the Online Film Critics Society http://www.hsbr.net/reviews/karina/ - Hollywood Stock Exchange Brokerage Resource
http://www.mediamotions.com
http://www.capitol-city.com
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
