Hey folks, Harry here.... I'm sick of reading others' opinion on OCEAN'S 11.... I just want to see the film. Moriarty just sits there leaving answering machine message after message saying, "I've seen Ocean's EEEEEEleVVVVVeeennnnnnnn and you hhhhhaaaaaveeennnnnn't! Nah Nah Naaaaaaah Nah Naaaaaah Naaaaaaah!" then ending with a raspberry. It's enough to drive you to hire Esteban to drop by his place with the colon stretching gallon paint cans and the superglue.... But then the thought of making Moriarty's ass bigger... Well, it is just all those messages... Every day... I mean... where's Esteban's number....
Greetings, Harry.
I have had the extreme pleasure of screening Ocean's Eleven, and I want to pass along the good word that this is a very, very good movie.
I sat down to watch Ocean's Eleven with a mixed bag of emotions. On the one hand, how can you NOT love a movie with every single actor in it? Clooney, Pitt, Roberts, Garcia, Damon, Cheadle... it's a damn Who's-Who of Hollywood. On the other hand, I was apprehensive. Usually when you crowd so many stars into four cans of film, they crowd each other or hog the screen or waste their talent in a sequel to Jurassic Park.
But, ahhh! Ocean's Eleven pulled off the big trick! They made a smart, well-acted, and satisfying heist movie without sacrificing the talent or presence of the stars and director! And what a fun heist!
You know that part of a good heist movie, where you know about 60% of the Big Plan and the thieves are in the midst of it (using those little Thief gadgets that they must pick up at Thief Radio Shack), and you are sitting eagerly with a stupid grin on your mug waiting to see how the other 40% will work out? This movie HAS THAT! And it has perceived deceptions, possible betrayals, plot zigs and plot zags, and above all else...believability!!!
Without believability, you would root for Andy Garcia, the man that Clooney (Danny Ocean), PItt (Rusty), and the rest of the gang are trying to rob. But because these characters are given room to breathe and develop and shine, you want them to rob that smarmy Garcia of all the money in his three casinos' vaults! You cheer whenever Garcia gets his comeuppance!
This is not a fast-paced, MTV edited movie. Far from it, this is an intelligent, deliberately slow paced film. I'm not knocking the Snatch style of caper movie, but I'd take Ocean's Eleven with its beautiful eye candy cinematography and knowing smirk over Snatch any day. There is a lot of humor in Ocean's Eleven - and the more you have settled into this film's wondeful pacing, the more you will enjoy it. Take Don Cheadle sitting on the couch in his hotel room, watching ON LIVE TV as a casino is demolished to ashes...while the actual demolition occurs out the windo just behind him. Take Brad Pitt teaching Hollywood punk rookies how to play poker. Take this great line between Danny Ocean and his ex-wife, Tess:
DANNY: You're my wife.
TESS: Your EX-wife - didn't you get the papers?
DANNY: Yeah, the day bfore I was released.
TESS: I told you I'd write.
Good dialogue that, because of the delivery, makes it great. I loved these performances! Everyone played a unique goofball with quirks that almost ruin the whole Big Plan. It's just plain fun watching the plan come together.
I can't say enough good about this film. Everyone I saw it with loved it except for the youngest of our group, who WAS expecting a faster paced movie. He should have known better. When this film hits theatres, I guarantee it will be loved by you, Harry, and by everyone who enjoys a great heist movie in the classic style.
Sincerely,
Ocean's Twelfth.
P.S. Watch in the credits for a fun little joke:
and introducing JULIA ROBERTS as Tess
Oh, that Soderberg...
