Ocean's Eleven Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)December 20th, 2001
OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001) / ***
Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Screenplay by Ted Griffin, based on a story by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell, and a screenplay by Harry Brown and Charles Lederer. Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon. Running time: 116 minutes. Rated PG for mature theme by the MFCB. Reviewed on December 18th, 2001.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Shortly after his release from prison, Danny Ocean (Clooney) learns that Las Vegas kingpin Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) is seeing his ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts). Danny decides to steal both Tess and the millions Terry keeps in a high-tech vault under three of his casinos. To this end, he enlists the help of ten top professionals (Pitt, Damon, Elliott Gould, Carl Reiner, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Shaobo Qin, Edward Jemison).
Review: Viewers might be forgiven for expecting a little more out of "Ocean's Eleven". Compared to Soderbergh's most recent endeavours, "Eleven" boasts neither the hard-hitting realism of "Traffic", nor the melodramatic gusto of "Erin Brockovich". This is a caper movie, pure and simple, with the emphasis firmly on light humour, diverting escapades, and a star-studded cast. Consider an early scene with Pitt trying to teach young Hollywood celebrities to play cards. Instead of casting actors as fictitious stars, Soderbergh uses real actors as "themselves"... or, more accurately, as hilarious -- and obvious -- caricatures thereof. (Topher Grace of "That '70s Show" and "Traffic" gets the best line.) This encapsulates the excess in which "Eleven" delights; how else to explain a movie in which Roberts is pushed to the background in all but a handful of scenes? "Eleven" is neither original nor demanding, being essentially a sequence of major set pieces -- the gathering of the eleven, the heist itself -- linked together by scenes whose chief attraction is to bring a lot of big stars together. But at least it's done well; Soderbergh himself is clearly having a good time, and Griffin's dialogue is snappy and stylish. With so many Oscar contenders on their way in the next few weeks, "Ocean's Eleven" is like a tasty appetizer before the main course.
Copyright © 2001 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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