Word: heists
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Ocean’s Eleven is a film that does not deserve a remake. The 1960 original featured the Rat Pack and an extended rodent family in a plot to rob five Las Vegas casinos in one New Year’s Eve heist. Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and company used the production as a vehicle to continue on the screen what was their mantra in real life: boozing, gambling and chasing women. Juvenile, meandering and amateurish to a fault, the original film contained so few redemptive elements that only the most dedicated of audiences...
Soderbergh wryly acknowledges the film’s origins and then manages, as he so frequently does, to transcend its limitations. While prepping his team for the heist, Danny explains precisely why he would attempt such an impossible mission. His reasons are succinct, his delivery is deadpan and his air is undeniably macho. Pitt bursts the bubble when he asks, “You’ve been rehearsing that, haven’t you?” Clooney responds: “A little, did I rush? I felt like I rushed.” With any other director...
...theft, it’s as slick as any I’ve ever seen, but the elements leading up to the climax captivate well before the film’s closing 30 minutes. Even though Ocean’s Eleven beats with a heart straight from a heist flick, through its veins courses much more substantial, more nuanced filmmaking. As with Traffic—though here much more subtlety—Soderbergh contrasts textures, colors and lighting in almost every scene. Damon’s introduction is filmed grainy and under-exposed, appearing as much a pickpocketing documentary...
...without resorting to violence. But matters become complicated when his fence, Bergman (Danny DeVito), strong-arms him into taking a risky last job that involves a large amount of Swiss gold bullion. Bergman also forces Moore to let his cocky young nephew, Jimmy Silk (Sam Rockwell), participate in the heist. In order to keep his hopes of prosperous retirement alive, Moore begins a complicated con game in which nobody can be trusted and nothing is certain...
...Heist had a lot of potential. It has some great actors, a few interesting plot turns and some really nice cinematography. Ultimately, though, it is just too self-indulgent to succeed...