Movie Scene
Clever 'Ocean' not very deep, but entertaining

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

OCEAN'S ELEVEN (Rated PG-13 for moderate profanity, partial nudity, and violence) Three Stars (Good) A spiffy, fun-filled remake of the 41-year-old Frank Sinatra war horse, a casino crime caper with a top-shelf cast, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Julia Roberts. Steven Soderbergh directs with verve. Warner Bros., 120 mins.

Too often, studios try to better a proven success. But here, the filmmakers tackled a flawed, overrated film that left lots of room for improvement.

And this time, it came out right, from the spiffy performances of George Clooney and his all-star friends, to the witty dialogue, to the bright and energetic direction of Steven Soderbergh.

The original "Ocean's Eleven" is part of the Frank Sinatra legend, which is also the only reason it entertains. Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and the rest of the infamous Rat Pack made the 1960 film as a sort of floating crap game, an excuse to party along the Las Vegas strip.

As for character development or crime caper intricacies, forget about it. Only the Rat Pack aura could put much ring in this a-ring-a-ding-ding of a flick.

The basic premise of both films is the same — the robbery of several casinos simultaneously in Las Vegas. This time, though, it's three, not five. And even that's a bit of a cheat: The three share an underground vault.

And this time, the gang is made up entirely of professional thieves, starting with Danny Ocean (Clooney), just released from prison.

To pull off the job, Ocean assembles a first-rate team: a dependable right-hand man (Brad Pitt); a young, fast-fingered pickpocket (Matt Damon); an explosives wizard (Don Cheadle, with a wonderful cockney accent); a veteran con artist (Carl Reiner); a casino dealer to be an inside man (Bernie Mac); and a financier to fund the operation (a flamboyant Elliott Gould). There are also two drivers (Scott Caan and Casey Affleck), a Chinese acrobat (Shaobo Qin), and an electronics whiz, (Eddie Jemison).

Ocean's target is the owner of the three casinos (Andy Garcia). And it's not just about stealing $160 million; the creep now is with Ocean's ex-wife (Julia Roberts).

While Ted Griffin's script gives everyone a moment to shine and often-delightful dialogue to spout, Soderbergh directs with verve. He's also once again his own cinematographer, perfectly capturing the neon pizzazz that defines the Las Vegas look.

To Soderbergh's credit, the new "Ocean's Eleven" makes no pretense to do more than entertain. And it does so on par with the year's other two cinematic caper escapades — "The Score" and "The Heist." It's no better, no worse.

The new "Ocean's Eleven" is an amusing, invigorating, lighthearted and relatively bloodless crime caper, filled to the brim with People magazine cover boys — and one cover girl — who also happen to be pretty good actors.

But don't look for anything more substantial. Like Sinatra's original, this "Ocean" is not very deep. But it is more clever.

Rated PG-13, with moderate profanity, partial nudity, and violence.