Oceans 11
Review
by : Gareth Von Kallenbach
Starring:
George Clooney (Danny Ocean), Brad Pitt
(Dusty Ryan), Andy Garcia (Harry Benedict), Julia Roberts
(Tess)
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
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The grand caper has long been a staple of film and book. Stories
ranging from the "Great Train Robbery", "Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance " and even the recent "Bandits" have chronicled
the exploits of so called gentlemen bandits. They earned this
nickname by being charismatic individuals who the public see
as doing no harm to the average person but rather an institution
in an us against them mentality.
Such is
the case in the remake of the "Oceans 11". The film stars
George Clooney as Danny Ocean. A recently paroled, and recently
divorced crook who blames his recent arrest on stress caused
by a failing marriage. No sooner is Danny released from prison,
than he starts to contact his old gang and recruit a few new
members in order to pull of a heist to end all heists. Assisting
Danny is Dusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), a smooth and confident operator
who is very much Danny's right hand man. During a meeting
with a prospective financier, Ruben Tischkoff (Elliott Gould),
Danny and Dusty reveal that they intend to rob three Las Vegas
casinos simultaneously by robbing the central vault that the
three casino share. The fact that a casino robbery has never
been successful is of little concern to them, as they believe
they have the perfect plan. As the team is assembled it is
determined that 11 people are needed to pull off the heist
ranging from an acrobat, computer techs, drivers, decoys and
a pickpocket named Linus (Matt Damon).
The targeted
hotels are run by Harry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who is known
for his brutal practices both in and out of the business arena
and has more than a few people who want to settle old scores
with him. Ruben wants to get back at him for forcing him to
close his casino years back, and Danny wants to get him as
he is sleeping with his ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts).
What follows
is the predictable plot device where the impenetrable vault
and its security systems are displayed as the group plans
the various phases of the heist, and encounter problems along
the way such as Ocean being identified by the casino and flagged
to be followed causing another person to be needed in his
role and his pursuit of his ex-wife. What could have been
an enjoyable film falls flat and becomes very dull and forgettable.
Clooney once again is playing himself and his suave charmer
role is getting very stale. As the brains behind the operation,
Clooney plays Ocean as if he were sleepwalking in the role.
Clooney and Roberts have very little chemistry and their scenes
with one another are forced and stiff. Brad Pitt is the supporting
player in the piece who does little more than stand around
with a smirk looking like he is in on an inside joke and like
the majority of the cast, displays as much range as a Daisy
air rifle in a wind storm. Unlike his great supporting rolls
in "Spy Games" and "Snatch" Pitt is reduced to being little
more than a background fixture and a substitute for Danny
when Danny is not in a scene. Sadly the same holds true for
the remainder of the cast. There is little to no character
development, chemistry or motivation amongst the characters.
The $150 Million take is the motivation of the characters
for the robbery, but we hear nothing about their plans for
the money, why they want to risk their lives when there are
easier targets and why they believe they can trust one another.
We know that Danny has worked with some of them in the past,
but that does not explain why the new people follow their
assignments without question and trust Danny blindly.
As the
villain, Garcia's character is badly underwritten. We see
that he is dangerous to those who would cross him, but tell
me what person would not be when they have $150 million and
the reputation of their business at stake especially in such
a high stakes industry?
The ending
of the film is also a disappointment as events unfold in what
is a predictable manner only to have a sequence at the end
where the audience at the press screener was asking "what
about the ….."? "Oceans 11" unfolds more like a pet project
as it seems that the actors were winging it and portraying
characterizations of other characters from their past careers
and from generic heist films. What results is a stale and
lifeless film, that has many of its jokes fail and features
a total lack of chemistry amongst the cast resulting in little
for the audience to care about much less route for.
Gareth
Von Kallenbach
Gareth@nwlink.com
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