Ocean's 11 (2001)
If this film weren't a remake of the classic 1960
cool film, if it hadn't already been called "Ocean's
11," it would surely be entitled "Suave Motherfuckers."
Cause that's what ya got here, a bunch of suave mofos,
behind and in front of the camera.
The dean of all that is hip and cool in film right
this minute, writer/director Steven Soderberg, is the
most suave of all. His film is sleek, breezy, glossy
and fluffy. There's no major theme or ideal being discussed
here. This is just a caper flick, a hip heist movie,
a fun and fluffy popcorn flick.
And talk about star power. Wow! The stars here
are bigger and more luminescent than the lights on the
strip of Las Vegas, where the film is set. There's George
Clooney (as suave as he was in Soderberg's "Out of Sight"
times two), Brad Pitt (pretending to again be thespian
of the year), Matt Damon (I'm not a pretty boy. I'm
NOT!), Andy Garcia (I'm smoother than Clooney), Scott
Caan and Casey Affleck (hey - we're related to suave
famous people!), Elliot Gould (old school suave), Carl
Reiner (old old old school suave), Bernie Mac (don't
call me Popeye), and Don Cheadle (unnecessarily trying
to fake a suave Guy Ritchie film accent). There's also
a few other minor guys but none of them nor any of the
male stars out shimmer Julia Roberts who here strikes
her best Audrey Hepburn pose. Roberts practically reinvents
feminine suave here. She proves herself to be the most
spectacular female movie star alive. She is drenched
in glamour.
Backtracking to Cheadle: Why oh why does he do
a Brit accent here? Is he trying to pay homage to Soderberg's
own "The Limey?" Cheadle is one of America's best actors
but he mucks up the film with his silly, unbelievable,
ridiculous Cockney. It's embarrassing.
The plot, the cinematics, the dialogue, the acting.
It's all really secondary here to the cool burn of the
film Soderberg and his New Jack Pack stars create. This
ain't a film, it's a flick.
Fuck medium cool. This is ice on fire. "Ocean's
11" is wave after wave of suave, crashing on the silver
screen. The audience is swept away in it. Fuck plot.
Fuck reality. When, post cinematic climax, a stunningly
dressed Julia Roberts sashays out of the casino in the
cool of the evening to DeBussy's "Claire de Lune" and
it looks like the song was scored for the movie, you
know what suave really is. You know what movies are
really supposed to be all about.
Note:
With Holly Marie Combs, Joshua Jackson and Topher
Grace (the latter a star of Soderberg's "Traffic") playing
themselves in a amusing send up of fame. Boxer Lennox
Lewis also has a cameo.
Score by David Holmes. Soderberg uses the pseudonym
Peter Andrews as Cinematographer here.
There are no opening credits and for some weird
reason the end credits announce: "Introducing Julia
Roberts as Tess."
Several songs by Percy Faith are featured on the
soundtrack.
Sammy Davis Jr. was in the original "Ocean's 11."
Don Cheadle played Davis in "The Rat Pack."
At one time Bruce Willis, Mark Wahlberg, Don Rickles,
Ralph Fiennes, Hugh Grant, Ewen McGregor, Alan Arkin
and Owen and Luke Wilson were all attached to star in
the film.
In the original, directed by Lewis Milestone, the
11 characters had all been in the service during WWII
together.
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