Sorry that this review's coming a little late, but last Thursday evening I prioritized writing my Hereditary review because I felt compelled to share my thoughts immediately. Anyways, I'd never seen Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy prior to a few days ago so I went ahead and watched them all before going to see Ocean's Eight yesterday. I won't be reviewing Ocean's Twelve and Thirteen for the time being because I have a lot of reviews to prepare/publish this week before going out of town. This includes publishing Throwback Thursday Reviews of Jurassic Park and The Incredibles in addition to reviewing new releases Ocean's Eight, Hotel Artemis, Tag (2018), and Incredibles 2 and prepping a Throwback Thursday Review for The Lost World: Jurassic Park before I leave. As a result, my review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will be coming a little later than normal since I won't likely see the film till perhaps next Friday.
Ocean's Eleven trails con artist Danny Ocean shortly after he's been let out of jail and put on parole. Ocean assembles a team of ten other accomplices with plans to steal from three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.
Ocean's Eleven was directed by Steven Soderbergh, featured a screenplay written by Ted Griffin, and functioned as a full-fledged reboot which went on to become a bankable trilogy of capers. With the help of a star-studded cast, Soderbergh assured direction ensures Ocean's Eleven was a heist film dressed to the nines and has got plenty of style to spare from start-to-finish. Soderbergh even served as his own cinematographer under the pseudonym of Peter Andrews (he does this fairly often) so the cinematography is sleek and stimulating under his watchful eye. When combined with the surefire editing and a jazzy score by David Holmes, the film's bravado is absolutely unrivaled.
'Ocean's Eleven' Review
Ocean's Eleven trails con artist Danny Ocean shortly after he's been let out of jail and put on parole. Ocean assembles a team of ten other accomplices with plans to steal from three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.
I also appreciated how the film was fairly unpredictable and kept me on my toes as I tried to guess how the crew would get themselves out of some hairy situations. The twists and turns along the way managed to be quite surprising and satisfying, and I particularly liked that there was an ulterior motive to the heist beyond stealing tons of money. It's always nice when a heist film is really about something greater and a relatable motivation is a solid start to that.
Other entertaining elements include the heist itself, some sharp dialogue, and the camaraderie amongst the crew. I've also got to say how impressive it is that the script managed to balance the ensemble despite having an abundance of characters. Some get more focus that others, but that's simply the nature of show business.
Regardless of all that, the all star cast will charm your socks off. George Clooney imbues Ocean with a suave debonair and calm, collected composure while Brad Pitt's Rusty is a reliable right hand man. Filling out the rest of the crew, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould, Don Cheadle, Eddie Jemison, Carl Reiner, Shaobo Qin, Casey Affleck, and Scott Caan are exemplary matches to their respective roles as up-and-coming pickpocket Linus, smooth talking croupier Frank, eccentric munitions expert Basher, flamboyant tycoon Reuben, awkward tech genius Livingston, grouchy old con-man Saul, soft-spoken Chinese acrobat Yen, and two hard headed brothers Virgil and Turk.
On the flip-side, Andy Garcia goes all in for his cold-hearted portrayal of Terry Benedict and stands out as a formidable foe. Meanwhile, Julia Roberts has little screen time, but makes her mark as a fitting femme fatale of sorts.
While not all that substantive, Ocean's Eleven is slick, stylish, and an all-around good time. It's been seventeen years, but Ocean's Eleven seems to still be the gold standard for this franchise and the heist genre in general.
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