ocean

Whiz! Bang! HaHa I gotcha! So goes Ocean’s 11,a film notable for its big stars, hotshot director, and general cool.

To start- in case you don’t know – Ocean’s 11 is a remake of a great older movie starring the possibly even more (in)famous collective of stars known as The Rat Pack. The elder Oceans’ starred Sinatra, Dino, Sammy, Joey, et al as old Army buddies brought back together for a newer sort of recon mission: the classic Hollywood hest. And where better of course for the original swingers to hit than Las Vegas? The stakes, though are high (higher I might add than in the new version) as the boys attempt to nab cash from a total of 6 casinos simultaneously.

Unfortunately due to the new balagan of money and star wattage thrown behind its update, this original heist outing has been widely dubbed to be generally poor at best. I disagree and encourage you to see the original as well for a real trip. As opposed to the new plot of heist-for-purposes-of-revenge, this quasi-classic merely enjoys the heist-for-the-hell-of-it, which is easily much more fun. With no grudges and nothing to lost, the Packers are merely throwing one back for love of the game. Admittedly,, you will certainly find it slow to start, but watching Old Blue Eyes light up America’s Playground while Dino tickles the ivories will leave an indelible air of fun for the whole family.

Also- and no spoilers I promise- this movie has to have one of the best endings I’ve seen, topped with a cherry shot of the whole gang walking like genuine reservoir dogs down the strip as the credits start to roll.
Now as for the new outing in the Ocean oeuvre, I’d say it’s ok. The hip of Out of Sight with the hohum 3rd party omniscient feel of the Limey. Indeed a Soderbergh affair all around.

The story differs a little from the original. The 11 are just a bunch of scraps that know each other in the way that all movie scraps manage to always know a bunch of other scraps with just the right specialty they’ll need to pull their Job X.

At the core, our Frank and Dean are brad and George. George is Danny Ocean who has just been released from prison. Brad is (hehe) Rusty, an old buddy who spends his days teaching poker to the casts of That 70s Show and Dawson’s Creek. (This scene early on was definitely funny and original but quickly tedious and I’m pretty sure lost on the rest of the audience. Do watch for another small sight gag at the end of this scene, though, when Topher Grace exits with George and Brad- guess whom the crowd notices and who they ignore?)

As things naturally go in these stories, having just gotten out of prison, Ocean already has a plan for a new (albeit bigger) job. His plan: to rip off 3 Vegas casinos. The catch from the start is that these particular three casinos belong to Terry Benedict who not-so-consequently is currently dating Danny’s ex-wife. As Danny tells Rusty, he played in the past like he had nothing to lose but unfortunately, he lost something and now would like her back. Blah blah blah they round up their team, give a big speech on how impossible it all is so the audience can wonder how they’ll pull it off and boom just like that they’re off and running.

As I said, Ocean’s is an ok movie- a definite no-brainer of a popcorn flick- but as you can see through my synopsis, it’s fairly run of the mill and therefore comes into a lot of problems. Namely, too many things are just left to chance. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief as much as the next person- perfect crime movies being possibly my favorite genre I’ve gotten used to it- but Ocean’s goes too far out on a limb sometimes. A few small examples:

Scott Caan and Casey Affleck play Utah brothers who are used to accessorize the small cons that advance the 11 to the big payoff. In other words, they function as any number of distractions or costumed waiters, casino workers, etc… However, since everything happens on the exact same casino floors time and time again, don’t you think somebody would notice the same two faces appearing again and again? Especially with Fort Knox like security everywhere. Not to mention that other than sunglasses on one occasion, their faces are never disguised or hidden in any way. Please!

Also, once in Vegas every heavy and tough guy magically knows Ocean and his buddies- of course tot their advantage as well, over and over again. Wouldn’t you know Dusty knows the stripper who can get the security key? Hey wouldn’t you know Danny knows one of Benedict’s henchman who’ll help him into the vault? And again and again.

And who believes Don Cheadle with that ridiculous accent?!?!

Probably under a less skillful hand, Ocean’s 11 could have been a nightmare of clichés and bad jokes. But notably, with Soderbergh at the helm we dismiss a lot of the narrative flaws. And that’s not just lip service. (this still in indeed his clumsiest film since Schizopolis) But who else could make Elliot Gould and Carl Reiner as cool as Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Who can pull suppertime dialogue and run it over beautifully slow silent shots of star-studded faces (Soderbergh, too, remaining the mater of the sound bridge) Coming on the heels of gutsier (Oscar-winning) fare like Traffic, Mr. Soderbergh seems here to be putting on a smoking jacket and a pair of bunny slippers and just basking in his own afterglow. And there’s nothing wrong with that, while we enjoy the time with him. Unfortunately, I did not.

All in all, Ocean’s as I said, never resorted to the banality and ordinary dullness it easily could have, but instead kept fresh and sharp with a clever script. The heist itself, filled- as many are- with random gadgetry that looks cool but no sense to an otherwise knowledgeable audience, never appealed to me and doesn’t here so much either. Great performances from Clooney, Pitt, Caan, Affleck, as well as elder statesmen Reiner and Gould, though, kept my energy and attention.

Ultimately, I would recommend Ocean’s 11 if you want some dumb fun that will play for many as more of the latter than the former (more fun than dumb that is) which is better than can be expected from most Hollywood star vehicles and, in fact, most heist movies (3000 Miles to Graceland is perfect example of that in spades) If you want to see a great heist minus all the techno-babble though watch the original Ocean’s. If you want to see what Soderbergh can really do with the idea of George Clooney and cool, check out the ultimately superior Out of Sight.

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