I've been the joke of the month among my girlfriends ever since, when invited to an all girls' night on the town for pizza plus Ocean's 11 premiere, I replied I didn't need any eye candy for the evening as Simone (my SO) was far better than Clooney, Damon, Garcia and Pitt altogether. Oh well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but actually, truth has it that having seen the rat pack movie starring Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Sinatra with my youth idol Angie Dickinson on the side, I thought I would have been thoroughly disappointed.

Last night my feet were sore and I was bearing a frown because of a grueling shopping day at Ikea's and I really wasn't in the right mood for a movie that required full use of my cell brains or points to ponder. Knowing full well that Simone wasn't up for comparisons against the Y2K's rat pack, we headed to the movie theater with a bag of gummy bears and an extra large bucket of popcorn, ready to dissect the movie so many had already given mixed o - and e-pinions about.

I left the theater with a smile on my face and a great punch line to use :

"Ha chiamato Elton. Vuole indietro la sua camicia"
- (What was it in English?, - Elton called. He wants his shirt back?)Oh well. Every time I want to tell someone he's "ugly and his mother dresses him funny", I'll plagiarize Danny Ocean. That stunt alone was worth the 7$ paid for the flick!

*******

Just how many of you still feel the urge to find out what this movie's all about? It's been the talk of the town for quite awhile...

Ok, so let's assume you're a woman and have been in a cave with the Talibans until yesterday, well, welcome back to Western civilization, where men shave (after they've left jail on parole, of course) and are willing to stage the most colossal robbery ever heard of in Vegas, with the most honorable motive of seeking revenge against the new love attention of their former wife.

That's what Danny Ocean (i.e. George Clooney) does, actually. He hasn't been paroled for more than 24 hours and he's already left the Jersey state, looking for his trusted pal Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) who is at the time "disgracefully" employed as a poker teacher, and letting him in on his grandiose orchestration for the most daring and sophisticated burglary ever conceived, which would require the participation of 11 specialists.

Rusty promptly agrees to join in his masterplan and leads him to the selection of the crew that will eventually become Danny Ocean's operating team of 11:

*The financial backer: former Vegas Casino owner Reuben Tishkoff, of shall I say Tickedoff, as his sole purpose in the agreement is that of getting back at whom has previously bought him out of his own casino (played by Elliot Gould, or rather, Elliot Gould's belly);

*The insider, a card dealer who could work undercover in Vegas: summoned from Atlantic City, Frank Catton (Bernie Mac):

*An expert, talented pickpocketer: Linus Caldwell, currently working alone at stealing wallets in Chicago (Matt Damon):

*An explosives expert - and Rusty brings in hilarious Cockney Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle):

*Two car whizzes - two for one: they hire the Malloy brothers (Turk and Virgil -Scott Caan, Casey Affleck)

* A hacker and surveillance pro: nerdy and anxiety-ridden Livingston Dell (a previously unheard of Eddie Jemison who, according to me, stole the show):

* An acrobat: circus attraction Yen (Shaobo Qin):

* And finally, someone who could fit the role of being a high-class Casino player, and distract the Bellagio casino owner: Saul Bloom (another great performance, by Carl Reiner).

****

Off they go. The plan is that of entering the caveau located in the Bellagio Casino, where three of the largest casinos in Las Vegas - the Bellagio, the MGM Grand, the Mirage, all under the same property - store their money. According to Nevada laws, the vault must cover a certain amount of cash in relation to the specific day - if there's a boxe fight, they must stow away a whopping $150 million for the evening.

What the "players" don't know is that the owner of the three casinos, control freak, ruthless and powerful $800 million-worth man Terry Benedict (a perfectly cast Andy Garcia) is just by chance currently dating Tess Ocean (a shallow Julia Roberts).

Uh-oh. That's when things get tangled up.

****
Ill leave it at there, for there would be no watching a movie you've been told everything about (well, actually, everyone already knows the plot from A to Z. Reviewing this movie is sort of like telling an old joke.) But my overall impression of the movie production was far better than what I would have imagined.

First of all, the whole story flows easily and the plot doesn't have any dead moments. Of course, Soderbergh really knows how to do his job, and gives an already terrific script a new twist. The background scenography is totally appropriate: darker and sober colors in the first part, glittery and striking, but never strident or overly extravagant, when located in Vegas. The set allows plenty of room for the stars to shine through.
The characters blend together very well, and are truly played effortlessly by the artists. At times, most of them carry off as though they are just having a good time and aren't acting at all.

An added bonus: for once, you're out there cheering for the "bad guys". That's a welcome change of pace, after all.

George Clooney is cast perfectly as Andy Garcia's Terry Benedict's enemy - a solar, warm-hearted, humorous soul with a constant smile on his face, who lets his emotions carry him farther than his mind and eventually risk a lot trouble, opposing a mischievious and calculating but charismatic person. However, I'm growing tired of seeing Clooney in and out of jail - isn't this his third part as an ex-con?
Matt Damon and Brad Pitt do justice to their roles, and I wasn't expecting much more than pretty faces from them after their last movies I've seen (the "ugly" horses and the Mexican). They are able to convey the personality traits of the characters they play in a realistic and incisive way.

The best parts, however, are the minor roles. They give new sparkle and humor to the movie, and with their great, surprising acting, they manage to pull the entire play together without letting it falter into yet one more remake with the sole excuse of gathering big names together for big bucks.
Which is not the case of Julia Roberts' part, or acting. She is more a cameo than anything else, and aside for her miscasting as she can never carry off secondary parts, she doesn't even seem believable in those few moments she's on screen. It simply appears as though she had no intention to give Tess Ocean's persona any depth at all. It's almost as though she just learned the script by heart and were reciting under final exams. I heard that no actor was top-billed, well, then if you're just doing for the director and the joy ride, Julia, put some of your heart in it!

Yes. I enjoyed this flick.

Let's put it this way. Ocean's 11 will boost a man's ego and burst a woman's eyes for 2 hours straight. It will make you smile and make you believe anything can happen, at least until the film is over.

Who cares if once you've left the theater life ain't that easy. Who cares if those things only happen in motion picture. Who cares if you haven't learned anything new.

You had a good time anyway.

*SPOILER*
P.S. Of course, ladies, I didn't tell Simone, but I have to take it back - I'm sure not worth 80M bucks, so I'd settle with crawling into one of those vaults and having any one of those charming new-era Lupin lads whisk me away in their S.W.A.T. van!


Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older