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Oceans' is Heaven Movie:
Ocean's Eleven By: Carly Berard (Lawrencerock.com Movie Editor) |
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I used to be of the small
minded opinion that no carrier of the Y chromosome should ever, under
any circumstances wear a turtleneck. Gentlemen, ladies, I was
wrong. In Ocean's Eleven Mr. George Clooney wears a turtleneck
and many other outfits to winning effect, that like this film are slick
and cool and perfectly put together. Based on that Rat Pack classic
of the same name, which stared fab five: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin,
Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, this incarnation takes
us to modern-day Vegas where a rag-tag band of pros will join forces
to attempt the most auspicious heist ever... Directed by it-kid auteur,
Steven Soderbergh, our story begins with a scruffy Clooney as Danny
Ocean being grilled by a parole board. Next thing we know he's being
given his walking papers and the getup he was pinched in. Is there ANYTHING
sexier than a man in a tux with a roguish look in his eye and an untied
bow tie around is neck? I ask you? Cut to the camera slowly panning
a freshly scrubbed Clooney in a snappy sport coat as he ascends on an
escalator into a casino. (and our hearts) There was a collective gasp
in my theater in reaction to this shot. This man bleeds charisma. What
inspired casting! Clooney as Sinatra. It's so perfect, so obvious. Of
course! Who better as Frank's heir apparent than this rakish charmer,
this jovial trickster, this ebullient, mischievous, blithely self-satisfied
rascal of a man?? He doesn't have blue eyes and he can't sing to save
his soul but the cool is there. He's one big effing star and
shine he does... All the world loves a Clooney except, apparently, his
ex. Enter Julia Roberts (a good thirty minutes in) as Tess Ocean, Danny's
embittered wife. Life on the outside goes on, however, and Tess now
finds herself in the arms of a replacement dark-haired rogue, a coldly
contemptuous Andy Garcia –but I'm getting ahead of myself... And thus we're treated to
the fun gathering-of-the-crew sequence that always happens in these
kinds of films. Gould is the money, Clooney's got the plan and Pitt's
his segundo. Add Don Cheadle as the explosives expert, Eddie Jemison
as the computer guy, Bernie Mac as the man on the inside, Carl Reiner
as the old-timer brought out of retirement, Casey Affleck & Scott
Caan as the drivers, Matt Damon as the Kid (did you know he's 31!) and
Shaobo Qin as –wait for it– the Chinese acrobat. So actually,
it's more like Ocean's 10 since Clooney makes 11 but no need to split
hairs... Maybe Julia as the Girl could be number 11. She doesn't intend
to help them but of course she will without meaning to. That Clooney.
He could charm the pants of a...(okay I actualy don't know how this
metaphor is supposed to end but you get the picture). Now all our boys
have to do is steal the cash from Garcia's casinos which is stored in
the hardest vault to break into in the whole entire world. (isn't it
always?) Okay, easy enough. The gang will just find an abandoned hanger
and build an exact replica of the vault to practice on...but wait how
do– Don't ask stupid questions! Just go with it. This whole thing
seems pretty risky, could it be that this job isn't juuust about the
money? Of course it isn't, it never is. 'Cause the characters need "motivation"
and stuff and if our anti-hero can't win back the girl, give her lover
the shaft AND steal 165 million dollars then really, what is the point?
There are easier ways to make some fast cash and they don't all involve
stealing pulse technology. (Remember Goldendeye? That's pulse
technology. In 'Ocean they steal if from some local lab but in
real life all the big pulse-tech research goes on at Johns Hopkins in
Baltimore. That's why it gets the biggest governmental grant of any
school in the nation. It's true.) So. Danny's got Tess under
his skin but she's got a new guy 'cause the lady...is a tramp. Well
no...but we aren't told what went down between these two in the past,
just that the upshot of it was that he got jail time and she got Garcia.
We sort of enter their story-line post Casablanca. He's Bogart
and she's Bergman and Andy Garcia, I guess, is Victor Laszlo...but an
evil Laszlo and now Rick's back and by damn if he isn't gonna take what's
his. (and then some) I regret to report that George and Julia don't
exactly sizzle up the screen. Their banter is tight and they look good
but they don't come anywhere near to generating the heat that Clooney
and Jennifer Lopez (remember when she was an actress..and good?) did
in Soderbergh's Out of Sight. Robert's general mood for the majority
of the film is "pissed off" which doesn't really lend itself
to the makey-outy but this is more than made up for by the rapport that
goes on between George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Their chemistry is palpable.
You could cut it with a chainsaw, you have to eat it with a fork. I
may even go so far as to dub them a Newman-Redford for the post 90s.
Indeed, much of your viewing experience will be marred by your ragging
internal debate over which man you love more. There's Clooney's twinkly-eyed
cocksure swagger...Pitt's unapologetic golden boyishness... but Clooney
seems to have lived more (and harder...) Do those eyes hint at
an ocean of intensity beneath that breezy veneer? Advantage: Clooney.
For now... Much like the original Ocean's
Eleven, your enjoyment of the film is enhanced by the sense that
these guys just had so much fun making it. Though the Pack's film was
nowhere near as well made, its merit came from the feeling that you
were being let in on their private world, that in between takes they
were drinking 'til dawn and fighting over Ava Gardner and now you too
could be an insider on the coolest clique on Earth. Through witty asides
and coy mocking, Soderbergh manages to evoke a similar vibe. This movie
winks at itself, so much in fact that it almost seems like a spoof of
a heist movie. When Matt Damon questions the safety of his mission impossible
wire or Clooney forgets the batteries, the script shows us it isn't
so wedded to the genre that it can't take a step back and make fun of
itself. And Clooney is the perfect vessel to pull of this jokey self-deprecation.
This is a man who spent years toiling in the wilds of Hollywood doing
Facts of Life episodes and movies like Revenge of the Killer
Tomatoes only to have fame shed her warm light upon him for something
as seemingly insignificant as a haircut so yes, he'll take what he can
get and he'll make sure to enjoy it. What makes the Soderbergh version stand apart is the top-shelf quality with which every aspect of this film is executed. From the script to the acting to the clothes to the camera work, every piece fits together to create a thoroughly enjoyable whole. The editing, especially, is the cherry on top with loving slo-mo pans of the gang to the tune of "Clair de Lune" and those cool split screen fade-outs Steven does so well. Oceans' too functions as a veritable love letter to the City of Las Vegas with beautiful ariel shots of the strip and glowing views of the Bellagio fountains. Though some critics have clamored for Soderbergh to get on with the business of making "important" films after having had his "fun" with O-11, I think they dismiss his goal too quickly. Soderbergh has said that he wanted to make a movie that was pure "popcorn" entertainment and that he did. I think this movie proves that fun can be a legitimate end in itself and Traffic was good & all but I'd rather see an Out of Sight any day of the week and thrice on Sunday. Certainly, high art and the ability to produce it is wonderful but being able to produce high-low art ain't easy. It takes precision and it takes skill 'cause that's a small target you're aiming for but if you get it right, it sings. And did I mention it stars George Clooney?
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