Ocean's 11 (2002)
Starring: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Synopsis: Soderbergh's flashy but slightly disappointing remake of rat pack heist film
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is an ex-con. But the minute he's out of jail he's hatching his latest plot - robbing three Las Vegas casinos, all in one night. The stash is worth $150 million. But the real objective is to get back at the slick, conniving owner of the targeted casinos and the man (Garcia) that stole Ocean's wife (Roberts) while he languished in prison.So Ocean starts assembling his gang - a veritable collection of the 'coolest' cons around led by right hand man Rusty Ryan (Pitt). Also on board are financier, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), rising young grifter Linus Caldwell (Damon), explosives expert Basher Tarr (Cheadle), surveillance system ace Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison), con artist and impersonator Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner), Chinese acrobat-contortionist Yen (Shaobo Qin), inside blackjack dealer Frank Catton (Bernie Mac) and the bickering, all-purpose Malloy brothers, Turk and Virgil (Scott Caan and Casey Affleck, respectively). So the 11 go to work preparing to pull off the impossible.

The premise is perfect. The cast equally enticing; and to top it off Soderbergh, Hollywood's hippest and hottest director, following his twin Oscar triumphs last year, is in charge of the directorial reigns. What more could you want? Unfortunately, Ocean's 11 flatters to deceive. It looks great - as you can expect with Pitt, Clooney and Roberts on screen. But the spark that was so obvious in Soderbergh's delicious Out of Sight is missing. The film builds up nicely as the team prepare for the robbery but the actual heist is an anti-climax. Yes, there is an old fashioned appeal to the plot and the setting.

Clooney, Pitt and Roberts in particular add charm and charisma but that can't make up for the lack of tension in the film itself. Things go pretty much as planned for our group of rogues. There are hardly any hitches and few of the twists that make heist films memorable. Furthermore, with so many individuals on board it is difficult to do justice to characterisation. In light of this, it is Andy Garcia as the Casino boss who comes away having made the biggest impression. Pitt also does well, showing surprisingly good comic timing. Unfortunately, Julia Roberts has little scope and the Clooney-Roberts couple has little chance to sparkle. Matt Damon is blander than bland and Dan Cheadle, stands out but only for his extremely ambiguous cockney accent.

Ocean's 11 tries to be the hippest, snazziest and flashiest film around. Unfortunately, while it's an enjoyable couple of hours, it falls well short of expectations. Clearly, in this case the sum of the parts is far greater than the overall result. If you want to see a good heist film see the far superior Robert Redford thriller, Sneakers.