OCEAN’S ELEVEN (2001) **1/2

Reviewed 12/7/01

OCEAN’S ELEVEN is based on the Rat Pack’s movie of the same name, and given the original’s putrid reputation (this critic has not seen it), Soderbergh’s decision to remake it might be due to the cool, enigmatic title more than anything else.  The plot is conventional heist material.  First come the character introductions.  Daniel Ocean (George Clooney) leaves prison a free man after four years of incarceration, hooks up with old friend, con-man Dusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), and tells him about his idea to simultaneously steal money from three casinos owned by Las Vegas bad boy Harry Benedict (Andy Garcia decked out like Michael Corleone).  Not coincidentally, Benedict is now seeing Ocean’s ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts).  So Ocean and Ryan go about collecting a crew for the job – a one-time casino owner (Elliott Gould), a surveillance expert (Edward Jemison, who might be best known for trying to pick up Mike Krzyzewski at an airport in a beer commercial), drivers (Casey Affleck and Scott Caan), an inside croupier (Bernie Mac), a demolitions expert (Don Cheadle), an acrobat (Shaobo Qin), an old-time hood (Carl Reiner), and lastly, pickpocket extraordinaire Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon).

Second comes the explanation of the various high-tech security systems and protocols that the crew has to overcome.   They probe the casino’s personnel and weaknesses and plant devices for later use.  Lastly, the film gets to the heist’s execution, and this is when the movie finally feels like it kicks into gear.

OCEAN’S ELEVEN is lackluster until then.  It has so many characters, yet not one of them is recognizably human.  One would sooner win the lottery than think up multiple adjectives to describe their personalities.  Among the actors, no one is outright bad, but only Bernie Mac really stands out.  Julia Roberts barely even registers.  The jokes are either obvious or can be seen coming from a football field away.  The need to establish how “bad” these guys are, as in the sense of being the best at what they do, does not quite mesh with the retro-feel and the movie’s lack of seriousness.  Once the action kicks in however, so does the suspense.  Character and tone takes backstage to the mounting tension and the smart twists.  OCEAN’S ELEVEN is very slight, but when it gets rolling, it is an entertaining diversion.

On one final note, Las Vegas has never looked more spectacular in the movies.  In various shots, especially the flyovers, OCEAN’S ELEVEN revels in the artificiality and glitz of the city’s architecture.