bnorthup
12-09-2001, 07:10 PM
Ocean’s Eleven (PG-13)
At the Gaslight
2.5 stars
Brotherhood of thieves
By Brent Northup
I suspect “Ocean’s Eleven” is a “date movie” that will entertain quite a few folk during this holiday season. And I’ve already noticed that critics are lining up to praise it, as well. But, for me, this was a formula caper movie that was altogether too predictable, powered by stars that don’t twinkle very brightly in my sky.
The story finds professional thief Danny Ocean (George Clooney) just getting out of jail – and instantly plotting to rob three casinos. The scheme promises to make him rich – and to annoy a rich casino owner who stole his ex-wife. He rounds up 11 other thieves – thus creating Ocean’s 11 – and then orchestrates a very clever robbery.
The movie is more gentle comedy than hardcore heist movie. The team is comprised of quirky characters with special skills. Julia Roberts plays the ex-wife, setting up Clooney-Roberts scenes which ooze with star power.
Granted the scheme is clever. To successfully rob an impenetrable casino vault, Ocean knows he will need to employ basic karate principles: he’ll use the weight of the opposition against itself. In other words, he’ll trick the casino into being an unwitting partner in the heist.
Nobody can deny that Steven Soderbergh is a talented director. He directed both “Traffic” and “Erin Brockovich” to Oscar nominations. He’s near the top of the list of contemporary directors. This time he’s content to apply his considerable skills to create breezy entertainment. It’s the equivalent of Einstein deciding to play a few games of Set, before heading for bed.
But enjoying this requires viewers to forget the fact that we’ve seen this story dozens of times before. I couldn’t. The robbery was telegraphed, the romance was telegraphed – nothing but nothing was left for me figure out on my own.
And there’s one more problem. I confess that I’ve never understood the appeal of either Clooney or Roberts. They remind me of the cute, popular ones in high school who spent more time on the looks than on the books. At best, I’ve tolerated them, but really never thoroughly enjoyed them.
So I guess it’s no surprise that, for me, the popcorn was better than the on screen popular corn.
Now it’s true, of course, mindless movies can be fun. And I suspect this one will be so for many local moviegoers. But for me the empty calories never added up to a meal.
But I’m not about to pretend I’m in the majority on this one. I’ll be the quiet voice of dissent as it pleases the masses and grosses $100 million.
END
At the Gaslight
2.5 stars
Brotherhood of thieves
By Brent Northup
I suspect “Ocean’s Eleven” is a “date movie” that will entertain quite a few folk during this holiday season. And I’ve already noticed that critics are lining up to praise it, as well. But, for me, this was a formula caper movie that was altogether too predictable, powered by stars that don’t twinkle very brightly in my sky.
The story finds professional thief Danny Ocean (George Clooney) just getting out of jail – and instantly plotting to rob three casinos. The scheme promises to make him rich – and to annoy a rich casino owner who stole his ex-wife. He rounds up 11 other thieves – thus creating Ocean’s 11 – and then orchestrates a very clever robbery.
The movie is more gentle comedy than hardcore heist movie. The team is comprised of quirky characters with special skills. Julia Roberts plays the ex-wife, setting up Clooney-Roberts scenes which ooze with star power.
Granted the scheme is clever. To successfully rob an impenetrable casino vault, Ocean knows he will need to employ basic karate principles: he’ll use the weight of the opposition against itself. In other words, he’ll trick the casino into being an unwitting partner in the heist.
Nobody can deny that Steven Soderbergh is a talented director. He directed both “Traffic” and “Erin Brockovich” to Oscar nominations. He’s near the top of the list of contemporary directors. This time he’s content to apply his considerable skills to create breezy entertainment. It’s the equivalent of Einstein deciding to play a few games of Set, before heading for bed.
But enjoying this requires viewers to forget the fact that we’ve seen this story dozens of times before. I couldn’t. The robbery was telegraphed, the romance was telegraphed – nothing but nothing was left for me figure out on my own.
And there’s one more problem. I confess that I’ve never understood the appeal of either Clooney or Roberts. They remind me of the cute, popular ones in high school who spent more time on the looks than on the books. At best, I’ve tolerated them, but really never thoroughly enjoyed them.
So I guess it’s no surprise that, for me, the popcorn was better than the on screen popular corn.
Now it’s true, of course, mindless movies can be fun. And I suspect this one will be so for many local moviegoers. But for me the empty calories never added up to a meal.
But I’m not about to pretend I’m in the majority on this one. I’ll be the quiet voice of dissent as it pleases the masses and grosses $100 million.
END