Charm overshadows plotting as 'Ocean's Eleven' ushers in Christmas movies


Published: Sunday, December 16, 2001

What does an already respected filmmaker do after being nominated twice in one year for the Academy Award for Best Director, winning that award and also guiding a popular actress to her very first Oscar?

Answer: Whatever he wants.

Steven Soderbergh initially considered remaking the Irwin Allen disaster picture "The Poseidon Adventure." But Soderbergh, at the request of friend and new production company partner George Clooney, took a hard look instead at the 1960 heist film "Ocean's Eleven," a movie considered cool for its time thanks to starring roles shared by Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr. and such friends as Angie Dickinson and Cesar Romero.

Indeed, while Soderbergh opted not to take a vacation, making "Ocean's Eleven" could be the next best thing — an opportunity to make an all-star vehicle and work with friends.

To his credit, the new "Ocean's Eleven" holds up much better than the shaky, dated original.

Soderbergh won acclaim in 2000 for "Traffic" and "Erin Brockovich" and, while his new picture is too slight to follow them into Oscar territory, audiences will at least have fun with it for a couple of hours. Some scenes work and the ones that don't at least fly by quickly, but the often clever dialogue and subtle visuals are what impress most.

Consider, for example, a wonderful quiet scene in which Don Cheadle settles in to watch the implosion of a hotel via a news report on his television, with the audience aware that he could see the real thing for himself from the window behind him.

Clooney stars as Danny Ocean, who completes a four-year stretch in prison when a robbery goes bad. Obviously a classy caper, though, because he leaves prison with the same tuxedo he was wearing when he arrived.

Breaking his parole in a matter of hours, he travels across the country intent on putting together a new crew. The plan is to rob a vault which holds the money from three very real Las Vegas casinos — the Bellagio, MGM Grand and the Mirage — on the night of a heavyweight title boxing match, when the high rollers will be betting even heavier.

His crew will be "Ocean's Eleven:"

Brad Pitt plays Rusty, Danny Ocean's confidante and right-hand man.

Matt Damon plays Linus, a second-generation grifter and pickpocket.

Don Cheadle is Basher, a Cockney explosives expert.

Eddie Jemison is Livingston Dell, a very nervous surveillance specialist.

Bernie Mac is Frank Catton, a card dealer serving as an inside man.

Elliot Gould is Reuben, the money man investing for revenge.

Carl Reiner is Saul, a con artist with perhaps one good con left in him.

Scott Caan and Casey Affleck play twin brothers Turk and Virgil, getaway drivers who love to drive and argue incessantly.

Shaobo Qin is Yen, a Chinese acrobat hired for his ability as a contortionist.

But that's only 10. Is Ocean himself number 11, or is the 11th a ringer left invisible until the heist is put into motion? It is debatable. For that matter, the meaning of Soderbergh's ending also is left open to debate, although it brings another smile.

Then again, the crew also feels conned upon discovering that Ocean made the robbery personal right from the beginning. The money is to be stolen from a casino owned by Andy Garcia, who is as rich as he is vicious, and who also just happens to be seriously dating Ocean's ex-wife, played by Julia Roberts.

The inherent challenge with star-laden films lies in finding enough time to allow each actor to create full dimensional characters or back stories. It's impossible, so Soderbergh concentrates instead on giving each actor a moment to shine while the robbery is being planned or set into motion.

"Ocean's Eleven," then, is a movie that has to look good to succeed. It cannot impress with its depth, message or character analysis.

Soderbergh captures the glitz and skin deep beauty of Las Vegas — never more so than when crooks admire the fountains of the Bellagio while "Claire de Lune" plays on the soundtrack — and also uses costumes and banter to define his characters.

Believability, however, is beyond reach even before these guys solve a problem by borrowing a bomb that can temporarily knock out all the electricity in Las Vegas.

Still, the film's second half is its strongest. Soderbergh must depend strongly on witty conversation while the crew is being assembled; it works only part of the time. There is at least some tension when the con is put into play and yet, on the other hand, most are buying tickets already knowing who to root for and a number of scenes are predictable.

In the end, "Ocean's 11" is an entertaining film in which glamour is able to triumph over glitz. The Bad Guys aren't all noble, but they're at least professional and maintain honor among thieves; as one states, "It will be nice to work with proper villains again." The plot is more simplistic than one might expect, depending on good humor and the sort of clever patter one finds only in the movies.

"Did you send flowers?" Clooney asks upon learning that a fellow criminal has died.

"I dated his wife for a while," Pitt responds.

In another scene they approach a hotel contact and Clooney asks, "Why do they always paint hallways that color?"

Pitt replies, "They say taupe is very soothing."

Upon being admonished for being a thief and a liar, Clooney tells Roberts, "I only lied about being a thief."

You get the point. "Ocean's Eleven" is as much about the stars as the robbery. It's lightweight entertainment, fluff, popcorn-flavored escapism from the day's problems and the stress of Christmas shopping.

It was designed as nothing more.

William Kerns can be contacted at 766-8712 or