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HugeReviews.com Reviews:
Just
Plain Cool: Ocean’s 11
by
Christian De Matteo
Super
I am far from being a fan of director Steven Soderbergh.
FAR.
He is in fact one of the few directors
who actually angers me, not because of political espousals or thematic choices,
but because I’ve watched him royally screw up
several films that could have been astounding.
I realize that not everyone will agree
with what follows, but I must say that while I
had been looking greatly forward to Traffic,
the film was damned awful.
The
Limey, a film with a brilliant script and
incredible acting by Terrence Stamp was also
destroyed by Soderbergh’s attempts at making
“Art Films” rather than just making films
that are so good they are considered art.
I don’t like Steven Soderbergh at all.
And so, with a good deal of fear for the
disappointment I was being set up for, I decided
to chance Ocean’s
11, a film with a great sounding plot, great
actors and a great preview.
Up till now the only Soderbergh film
I’d seen and enjoyed at all had been At
First Sight (also with George Clooney), but
that too could have been better.
The key to Ocean’s 11 is that
Soderbergh got the hell out of his own way.
He directed naturally and normally,
without any ridiculous editing flair (see The
Limey, ugh), shooting a movie (here’s a
concept) to tell a story and not to prove artistic prowess. This
is how great artists come into their own: by
doing what’s natural to them, not by forcing
art. Traffic can be compared to a man who sets out to write literature,
while a film like The
Usual Suspects to a man who sets out to
write a novel and who gets literature.
Not to take that analogy too far; Ocean’s
11 is not literature.
It is, however, one of the very best
heist movies I have ever seen.
What makes it thus is its (true to its
Rat Pack roots) focus on cool.
This is not a film about reality, about
the intricacies of a real heist, about what is
or isn’t possible.
This is a film about a bunch of cool
guys, doing a cool job, and being damn cool
while doing it. There isn’t a great deal of tension in the film, only a few
times when one might approach a pins-and-needles
feeling and not for long at all.
One never really get the feeling that a
great deal is at stake and certainly never
doubts that it will end well.
But, honestly, we expect all those things
in a heist movie, and, for me, not getting them
was an exciting change.
Having just seen Heist
which traded solely on those things, Ocean’s
11 was a wonderful vacation and opportunity
to sit back, relax and watch cool guys be cool.
Me, I like that every now and again.
Is this an Oscar contender?
I hope not.
Don Cheedle, George Clooney, Carl Reiner,
Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Matt
Damon, Bernie Mac and every other piece of this
movie lover’s dream ensemble cast all do just
right jobs playing
their parts.
Never do you think, Wow,
what an astounding acting turn by Clooney,
or Geez,
Pitt showed some real range there.
Not at all.
In fact, you don’t think about their
acting one bit because it is so perfect for the
film. These
guys are all pros and should all be
congratulated on their dialogue timing in the
film, which honestly makes the film, but this
was a job they could all handle.
If anything it should raise our awareness
of Casey Affleck as player, but basically
everyone here is just right for their parts.
This is one of those examples of perfect
casting.
(I exclude Julia Roberts from the last
statement, because I can think of a number of
other actresses who could have done a more
formidable job.
Michelle Pfeiffer, Kate Blanchett and
Jennifer Connelly [oh, lord, Jennifer Connelly] all come to mind rather rapidly.)
Ocean’s
11
won’t be battling Life
as a House for tear quotient, nor Heist
for complexity, nor Harry
Potter and the Really Long Title for
imagination.
None of this will happen.
What Ocean’s 11 does do is win the cool contest, hands down.
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One-Time
Eleven
by Michael Flanagan
Solid
I like Ocean's 11. I
thoroughly enjoyed watching it. I was completely
entertained by the heist antics and decidedly male
banter from beginning to end, without one moment
of boredom. I didn't want to take my eyes
off the screen in case I missed some important
detail. I laughed harder than I had all
week, and when I wasn't laughing I was
smiling. All of the actors involved were
great, with the most notable example being a very
underplayed scene.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt are
sitting at a bar, contemplating the heist.
They have ten people. Clooney is asking Pitt
whether he thinks it's enough, while Pitt leaves
his head on the bar and stares beyond the
frame. Clooney's quick monologue leads him
to the decision to get one more. Neither he
or Brad Pitt blink during the scene. It is
subtle comedic perfection, and high testament to
Clooney and Pitt's talents, as well as director
Stephen Soderbergh's
sometime explored gifts as a filmmaker. And
to top that subtlety, Julia Roberts gently turns a
cliché into a pseudo-mysterious character.
She is the casino mob boss' girlfriend, and
casino-robber's ex wife. One would think
that this makes said woman slightly less than
bright, but Roberts plays her as intelligent and
crafty, so that you don't know exactly what she
will do, if anything, at any given moment.
She does this with very few lines and only a few
more scenes, and she does it without that
trademark smile, but she does it well.
Yes,
Ocean's 11 is fun. Once. What
makes it such a pleasure is that it keeps the
audience guessing. Just when you think
you're in on the details of the heist, you're not,
and then you are again, and then you're not, until
finally you are...or are you? Once this fun
and exciting ride is over, you know all the
twists, you've made all the turns, and there's not
much left to see. This isn't a fault of the
movie itself, necessarily, but of the genre.
Still, I could watch a movie like The Usual
Suspects or Mission Impossible
repeatedly and enjoy it almost just as much as the
first time. With Ocean's 11, it's
fun, and then it ends. Like the girl you
meet in a bar after one too many cocktails, it's a
good time...but just once.
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