Another piece taken from my notes for the show (Episode 263) where we took a look at Ocean’s 11, with a brief look at the film that it originated from, and the sequels that followed.
The 1960 rat-pack film may have the swagger of Sinatra and the gang, and a decently thought through heist element, but it seemed to be packed with in-jokes between the core cast that not many people are in on, took over an hour to actually get going, padding out the first hour with a lot of attempted comedy gubbins, and then hits a dull thud in the final moments. All in all, it was a cool idea (heist movie with an array of stars in an ensemble piece), but just done poorly by a director, Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front), who was a pioneer in the early days of cinema, but whose latter career had flagged to only the sporadic show of talent.
In the late 80s, an early attempt to revive Ocean’s was being prepped by David Permut, after he had given new life to Dragnet, but that all went quiet. Cut to the year 2000, and Warners announced that Steven Soderbergh was prepping a remake of Ocean’s 11, and that George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts were already on board.
The plot is basically the same – Danny Ocean (Clooney), a career thief and conman, puts together a team of fellow thieves in order to conduct the largest heist in Las Vegas history – stealing from multiple Casinos in the same night. The difference between this film and how it played in the original is that instead of multiple Casino locations being hit, the job involves a singular high security vault that the Casino’s feed into, all under the control of Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who Danny has a personal vendetta against.
Much like the original, the heist itself only plays out in the last act, but unlike that first film, the entire first two acts feel like a genuine build-up and planning of the heist – offering a lot of detail into the world (and lingo) of the cons, whilst never letting the audience know exactly how the con will work – that was we are as surprised by the final act as Benedict and his crew.
From the start, this is Clooney’s film. He was on a particular high at the time, with a charming persona that lets you overlook the fact that, at the end of it all, he is a criminal. The same goes for the rest of the 11 – the cast are so charming and fun to follow that you genuinely want them to be successful in, you know, stealing lots of money! Brad Pitt as Danny’s closest friend Rusty is similarly full of charm, and his chemistry with Clooney is so perfect that they don’t even need to talk to be perfectly communicating (as demonstrated by the “you think we need one more” one way conversation). Casey Affleck and Scott Caan as the Malloy twins have a similar chemistry, only this time it is an almost buddy-cop-esque bickering rivalry that bonds them. Carl Reiner and Elliot Gould bring classic star power to the screen, hamming up their roles to just the right level. Matt Damon is the new member to this crew, Linus the pickpocket, and plays like Will Hunting went a little off the rails, with a similar charm. Don Cheadle is Basher Tarr, an explosive expert who has totally blown up the cockney accent (no, seriously, it is hilariously bad, but works because of it). Bernie Mac and Quin Shaobo round off the crew as a disgruntled croupier and an acrobat, both key to how the heist plays out.
That mix of characters, and so many names, puts a risk of people being lost in the mix, but instead it genuinely feels like all get time to play and shine, with a snappy pace for which Soderberg was the perfect director for. This film, simply put, vibes with Vegas swagger throughout. Witty dialogue never feels anything other than natural, the cast look great and each play to their strengths. Andy Garcia is a perfect ‘villain’ here – in order to get us to root for the 11 (who are, remember, criminals), we need to find the ‘villain’ absolutely repulsive, even though he is simply conducting business, and Garcia gives off an aloof vibe just enough to make us love to hate him.
Julia Roberts, if anyone, is a little short served here – but in this film she is a plot device, that being Danny’s ex-wife who now with Benedict.
But visually, stylistically, and musically (boy, this soundtrack album is a kicker), Ocean’s simply works!
The film was enough of a success to warrant a sequel, which saw the whole gang and Soderberg return, with Roberts’ Tess being the 12th in the crew. Switching to Europe for the setting, Soderberg alters his filmmaking style to reflect that environment – gone are the slick Vegas pizazz, and in comes quick pans and zooms, and a very euro-cinema style and tone. A plot that saw Benedict seeking revenge and forcing the crew to pit themselves against master-thief The Night Fox (Vincent Cassel on glorious form) in the heist of a Faberge Egg. For those expecting more of the same, this proved a little jarring – and the far too self aware cameo by Bruce Willis kind of breaks the immersion – which is probably why the next sequel, Ocean’s 13, headed back to Vegas with a plot that saw another corrupt casino mogul (Al Pacino) as the villain to be brought down.
This time, Benedict becomes one of the crew, as does Eddie Izzard’s Roman Nagel, and we are back to the slick approach of the first film.
Ocean’s 8, directed by Gary Ross, saw Sandra Bullock as Debbie Ocean, Danny’s younger sister, who follows her brother’s lifestyle, including her opening scene of the film being her being released from prison, only to immediately decide to conduct a heist. It’s more of the same, only female led, and with a heist set around the fashion world in order to obtain some diamonds. And it works! Largely due, once more, to the names cast as the crew of 8, and some fun twists and turns as the heist appears to go wrong.
In 2021 Soderberg had apparently been working on an idea for another film in the series, with Cheadle and Damon both interested in returning, but as of now that is still in wishful thinking territory.
