THE IDEA MAN...Daniel Ocean....George Clooney
Con artist. Experienced in various confidence schemes, fraudulent business scams and swindles.
THE ROOKIE...Linus Caldwell...Matt Dillon
Pickpocket, thief. Expertise in sleight-of-hand and all manner of physical property theft.
THE PRO...Rusty Ryan...Brad Pitt
Professional card shark. Has hustled casinos worldwide; banned for life from Monte Carlo. Speaks fluent Cantonese.
THE GETAWAY...Virgil Malloy ...Casey Affleck
Juvenile conviction for driving without a license. 1 count misdemeanor drug possession; 2 counts aiding and abetting robbery;
3 counts reckless endangerment; 13 citations for speeding; 1 arrest for DUI; 1 count of grand theft auto; 2 counts driving with a suspended license.
THE GETAWAY...Turk Malloy ...Scott Caan
2 Juvenile convictions for driving without a license; 1 count of minor in possession of controlled substance; 2 counts aiding and abetting robbery;
1 count of vehicular misconduct; 1 count of grand theft auto; 17 citations for speeding; 1 arrest for driving with a suspended license.
THE BOMBER...Basher Tarr ...Don Cheadle
Munitions and explosives specialist. Experience in TNT, Plastiques, pipe bombs, wireless exploding devices.
THE INSIDE MAN...Frank Catton...Bernie Mac
Blackjack dealer; accessory to various crimes. AKA "Ramon Escalante."
THE HIGH ROLLER...Saul Bloom...Carl Reiner
Con artist. Expertise in various confidence schemes and impersonating false identities. AKA "Sam Roberts," "Barry Robertson,"
"Stan Steinberg," "Bill Lumbergh."
THE EYE IN THE SKY...Livingston Dell...Edward Jemison
Audio/visual specialist. Expertise in all forms of electronic surveillance, A/V equipment and wireless recording devices.
THE GREASE MAN...Yen...Shaobo Qin
Contortionist; highwire artist; juggler; acrobat. Experience includes 2 world tours with the Chinese National Circus.
THE BANKROLL...Reuben Tishkoff...Elliott Gould
Financier and real estate entrepreneur. Expertise in casino security.
THE TARGET...Terry Benedict ...Andy Garcia
Entrepreneur. Owner, hotels and casinos, including The Bellagio, The Mirage and The MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV.
Recently acquired (via hostile takeover) The Xanadu, (also located in Las Vegas) which Subject reportedly plans to
demolish per plans to build a new theme resort and casino. Marital Status: Single/Never Married.
THE WILD CARD...Tess Ocean ...Julia Roberts
Currently employed as Curator, Bellagio Art Gallery, Las Vegas NV. Divorced from DANIEL OCEAN
Now that you have met the players let us get on with the show...OCEAN'S 11 The Remake.
   
 
 
|
"My wife left. I was upset."
Way back in the 1960's; yeah that was during the last century, a bunch of what were called The Hollywood Rat Pack
decided to all get together, have a big party and make a movie called OCEAN'S ELEVEN. It was a film about holding up some
casinos and starred the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson and even Cesar Romero.
The film was not great but apparently they had a wild time making it. Well the powers that be decided that they had a great script so they
gathered a new Hollywood Rat Pack and decided to remake OCEAN'S ELEVEN.
"No sir, I wouldn't ever think of leaving the state."
Freshly released on parole Daniel Ocean (George Clooney) plans a Las Vegas casino robbery that will net him and his crew
$160 million dollars. His plans involve 10 other professional thieves and con men. As you have already seen up above, all the main
players are listed for your perusal. Now the victim of this intrigue Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) is a man whom everyone hates. Daniel
has a little secret agenda within his robbery plans. He wants revenge on Terry because not only does he not like him but it seems that
Daniel's ex-wife, whom he still loves, is now with Terry and marriage is in their future. His wife Tess (Julia Roberts), of course
has felt betrayed by Daniel and lost interest in him. br>
"You can't have six cards in a five card game."
The rest of the movie is not very deep but it is tense and entertaining to watch. A movie like this basically revolves around the preparations, the
setup and the scams that lead to the inevitable execution of the plans. The thrill of the movie is watching how everything comes together
and of the twists and tricks that the writers hit us with. Since the fun is in watching all this unravel before your eyes, I can't very well tell
you what happens.
"You guys are pros, the best. I'm sure you'll make it out the front doors."
I can tell you that this is a film that not only relies on the gimmick but it also relies heavily on the characters. None of the actors seem to
step on each others toes instead they all interact beautifully. I especially enjoyed the interaction between Clooney and Brad Pitt. These two
actors have worked often in ensemble situations so they are very good at working of each other. Basher Tarr is the other intriguing
character. Don Cheadle's British accent adds immensily to the Bagger character and he does walk away with the scenes he is in.
"He'll kill you and then he'll go to work on you."
One nice thing about all the characters is that even though it is quite clear that Daniel is in charge of this operation, every character has
equal value to the heist and plot. This is one of the reasons that I usually enjoy this type of film. Stories that use lots of characters
interacting with each other are fun to watch especially when they throw snappy patter back and forth. I guess that's why television shows
like ER, Fraser and Friends have been around for so long.
 
"In my hotels there is always somebody watching."
Academy award winning Director, Soderbergh has made some excellent films but this is probably his biggest project. I can honestily
say that I enjoyed this one a lot more than I did TRAFFIC.
"It'll be nice working with proper villians again."
Oh, I forgot, one of the highlights of the actual robbery is that it is based around a Lennox Lewis and Vladimir Klitschko boxing match.
"If you ever ask me that question again Daniel, you will not wake up the following morning."
Films about robbing casinos are great flights of fantasy. Since casinos tend to willing rob of us of our money we take great delight
in seeing the villians rob the casinos. It is a little bit of fantasy revenge on our part so we tend to cheer these banditos on. After all we
do know that trying to rob casino is probably more difficult than robbing Fort Knox.
"Did you check the batteries?"
The excellent script gives us some good plot twists that keep us hopping throughout the film. I did find the plot twists in
THE HEIST better crafted but still the one's in OCEAN'S ELEVEN
are pretty good. The acting is well done as well but once again Gene Hackman's THE HEIST surpasses. Still there is lots of
good performances especially by Don Cheadle and Carl Reiner. These two were fun to watch. Clooney of course is Clooney but together
with Brad Pitt they did some nice schtick. Andy Garcia was excellent as usual but the biggest disappointment was Julia Roberts.
Really her part could have been played by anyone else as it wasn't that big of a role. Then again I am not a big Julia Robert's fan. Having
her in the film, of course helps give it the star power the film needs. Scottt Caan and Casey Affleck are two young actors to keep an eye
on as they will probably go fairly far with their careers.
"Liar."
"Thief."
OCEAN'S ELEVEN is a good popcorn movie. You can sit back and enjoy the fun. What is amazing about this PG film is that they
managed to do this entire film with no harsh language, sex, nudity and very little pyshical violence. It is a safe remake for everyone and it
should do well during the Christmas season.
 
|
|
   
RETURN TO MOVIE REVIEW LISTINGS
RETURN TO METROCITY
|
