Ocean's Eleven

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How you can shoot a movie on location in Las Vegas and not even come close to capturing the feel of the town is beyond me, but Steven Soderbergh and company have managed to do just that. I know I'm in the minority here but this is mediocre filmmaking at best. It's badly cast with lousy dialogue and a score that doesn't fit the story. The leisurly pacing of this movie is all wrong for Las Vegas. This film is just plain bad.

A rarity--a remake that's better than the original. 11 men led by Danny Ocean (George Clooney) prepare to rob a vault linked to 3 casinos in Las Vegas. His partners in crime include Brad Pitt, Carl Reiner, Elliot Gould, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon and Scott Caan. Also, the casinos are owned by Tery Benedict (Andy Garcia) who is romancing Ocean's ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts). Fun, engrossing, just simply the most enjoyable film of 2001. It moves smoothly, the entire cast plays it cool and easy and Steven Soderbergh directs it with flair and intelligence. Yes, it's light; yes, it's a trifle but it's so FUN! I really loved this film. Affleck and Caan are hilarious as bickering brothers. My only complaint--Julia Roberts (the only woman in the cast) is shot very cruelly. She's beautiful so why does she look so bad? Aside from that this is a fun movie. Just sit back and enjoy.

Ocean's 11 (2001): Dir: Steven Soderbergh / Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle: Disastrous remake starring George Clooney as a thief named Daniel Ocean (how clever). He is released from prison after serving time for being part of Batman and Robin, and immediately hooks up with fellow thief Brad Pitt to (ominous drum roll), rob a casino! The casino is owned by Andy Garcia playing Al Pacino and he is dating Julia Roberts who dumped Clooney due to his lifestyle. For every great film Steven Soderbergh makes he tops it with sh*t. For example, Traffic is terrific while Erin Brockovich is overrated garbage. One can suppose that this is his bad counter to his effective Out of Sight. The cast sleepwalk through the charade with Roberts embarrassing in her pitiful grinning in the backseat bull- crap when she accepts the redeeming Clooney. Yet we are suppose to be proud that they pulled together a cast that play like a high school class of roll call. The original film isn't much better with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin leading a large cast through the same charade. The remake is so much worse in its pointless bull and yet somehow this garbage managed to gain popularity. This is one that Soderbergh doesn't score high in terms of character driven writing, but it can claim to be one of the year's very worst films. Score: 0 / 10

There is just something about this movie that makes it so great. There's nothing truly outstanding about any one aspect of the movie; nothing that will blow you away. However, everything is put together perfectly. Personally, I have a theory that any movie that absolutely blows you away the first time you see it, will lose its entertainment value very quickly. Not necessarily because the movie was not good, but because it just seems to get old too fast. This is NOT one of those movies. This is the kind of movie that will be enjoyed countless times. The dialogue is slick, and always to the point. There are few (if any) overdone scenes and/or lines that tend to become annoying over time. This movie flows exceptionally well. Personally, I couldn't quite figure out why until I watched the "behind the scenes" footage on the DVD. I didn't really notice all of the work they put into using as few shots as possible. The extra features on the DVD really explain it all. Almost every scene uses considerably less shots than you would think it takes to convey all of the activity going on. The music punctuates the flow of the movie and the shots extremely well. The cast is almost all big names. It's great to see actors like Pitt and Clooney and Damon come together in a movie and interact so well, without having to be the pretty boys or bad-ass heroes of the movie.

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source: Ocean's Eleven

Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is an ex-convict just released from prison, whose first order of business is to get his buddy Robert "Rusty" Ryan (Brad Pitt) and an assortment of other characters together to rob three Las Vegas casinos owned by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). These characters are great and we love seeing them talk and rob. All the actors do a great job is animating the personalities of their respective characters. Danny is the charming mastermind, Rusty is the sarcastic right hand man, and Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) is the innocent newcomer. It's a great caper flick and it's really hard not to like it. The whole film is a load of fun. If you haven't seen it yet, go check it out.

The suspension of disbelief required for the plot to be credible is too much for anyone with a brain. Why these famous actors agreed to be in this movie is beyond me. Maybe they thought they were remaking a classic or something. A waste of everybody's time.

This movie is so superficial, it makes me doubt whether the legendary 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape' was made by the same director. All the characters are at least obnoxious, the plot is predictable and the 'three' casinos advertised in the trailers is just one. A crowd pleaser nevertheless, 'Ocean's Eleven (2001)' is a waste of talent, but also a money machine for Soderbergh & co. 2/10