Ocean's Eleven

Remakes usually suck. Rarely are they even CLOSE to being on the same level with the original. They tend to try to "top" their predecessor and therefore be known as "The Best One". Didn't happen this time. Didn't even come close. With all the publicity about this "great" cast I thought I was really in for a treat. I went in TRYING not to compare the two and it turned out THAT was easy. The two stories are completely different. The only things the same are the name Danny Ocean and the fact that they knock off a Vegas Casino.

George Clooney IS Danny Ocean, a New Jersey Convict just "back from the dead". He comes out of stir with "The Plan" and starts recruiting hours after his release. His first stop is Bernie Mac who never got to use his comedic genius in a small role. Brad Pitt was the standout character with slick and witty lines. Matt Damon should have stayed home as it looked like they had him there JUST for his name. Same with Julia Roberts who is REALLY one funny lookin broad (I don't get that one), shows up just enough to put a small, final twist to the story. Others in the cast were Andy Garcia who plays a rich bastard to the T, Elliot Gould, Carl Reiner who hasn't lost his touch and was THE MAN, Scott Caan (Son of James) and Don Cheadle who has a HEAVY Limey accent that added a nice touch.

One would think that with the above cast that "treat" that I spoke of would have been there. It wasn't. The characters never meshed and the Director, Steven Soderbergh (Traffic...2000) relied way too much on the "names" in the cast instead of the substance of the story. Was it as good as the first Ocean'sEleven? No. The other was an "original story" and we had never seen anything like that before. On it's own merit, was this a good picture? Yes, it was good but FAR from great. Had I not seen the first one, I would have liked this one better. They brought that on themselves by using the title Ocean's Eleven. They should have called it Desert's Ten or Twelve or something else.

The heist is led by Danny Ocean (George Clooney), who has assembled an assortment of charismatic crooks (played by charismatic actors such as Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, and Matt Damon). They need a highly sophisticated plan to go up elevator shafts monitored with laser beams, find out large numbers of key codes that change every 12 hours, break open one of the most secure vaults ever, and walk out with the money. All this has to be done under the nose of Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who is (portrayed as) a ruthless machine-like boss of three casinos in Las Vegas.

The plan goes off with such perfection that it's hard to believe there can be any suspense at all. Director Steven Soderbergh makes it interesting by revealing some parts of the plan during the preparation stage, and other parts aren't revealed to us until after the execution of the heist. The movie has us rooting for the good (bad) guys since the bad (good?) guy is the epitome of most things you could dislike in a rich ruthless person.

The story vaguely resembles the first version of this film released in 1960. The excellent acting by the several leads, together with a sharp script, is what makes the film work. Ocean's Eleven is a fun movie to watch, and I highly recommend checking it out on the big screen or on video.

Director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brockovich) and a winning ensemble cast, headlined by George Clooney and Brad Pitt, roll the remake dice on Ocean's Eleven and come up with entertainment snake eyes. Aside from a lack of character development that is compensated by the chemistry of the cast, Soderbergh and company have made a movie that wants to do nothing more than entertain, which it does with great ease.

The film opens with the parole from a New Jersey prison of Danny Ocean (George Clooney). No less than 24 hours after his release, the gentlemanly thief is already at work on his next plan: to rob an underground vault that houses the earnings of the MGM Grand, Bellagio and Mirage casinos in Las Vegas. Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), a rather ruthless entrepreneur, owns these casinos. He also happens to be sleeping with Tess (Julia Roberts), Danny's ex-wife. Is this a coincidence or motive? Only Danny really knows for sure.

One thing that is known for sure is that the heist will not be easy and Ocean will not be able to pull it off alone. With the help of his right-hand man, Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), Ocean assembles a team of; you guessed it, eleven professional criminals to carry off the near-impossible plan.

The crew consists of Linus (Matt Damon), an ace pickpocket; British explosives expert Basher (Don Cheadle), a surveillance expert named Livingston (Eddie Jemison), a professional con artist named Saul (Carl Reiner), Frank (Bernie Mac), who can deal cards and still keep a skilled eye on the floor; the Malloy Brothers (Scott Caan and Casey Affleck), who are adept at rigging automobiles; a Chinese acrobat (Shaobo Qin) and Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), an ex-casino owner who is funding the job.

You might be hard pressed to find characters or story with much depth in Ted Griffin's screenplay. What you will find is a serviceable, straightforward tale that doesn't overstay its welcome and a lot of funny, smart dialogue for Steven Soderbergh and his talented cast to work with. While his directing may not be creatively on par with his previous work (such as his award winning job on Traffic) it is, however, as assured and engaging as always. He wisely does not jazz up this remake with gratuitous violence, profanity and wall-to-wall action. Instead, Soderbergh gives us a cool, easygoing ride that is free of violence and gore, has only the mildest of profanity and gets far more mileage out of characters acting cool than he would a car chase or shootout.

The big draw to Ocean's Eleven isn't the story or the director. It is the cast of big-name stars looking to carry on the legacy of the Rat Pack (whose members included Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin). While I have yet to see the 1960 original, I think it's safe to say that the Chairman of the Board and Dino would approve of this new group. They've