LogFAQs > #983155616

Here we go!

10. Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Score: 131

Poke: 2
Seanchan: 3
Inviso: 3
Karo: 4
Seginus: 8
Lightning: 20
Mythiot: 20
Suprak: 21
jcgamer: 22
Johnbobb: 28

Seanchan
This is just a fun movie. I found myself thinking about this as Heat but as a non-violent heist movie. Rather than peak Pacino/DeNiro youve got peak Clooney and Pitt. Youve got a great supporting/surrounding cast (Bernie Mac!). ..Alright so maybe as Im writing this I dont have much more than that. At any rate, this is one of those giant cast of A-lister films that manages to make it work.

Inviso
Yeah, this movie is RIGHT up my alley. For a disorganized crime, its one of the most organized plots Ive seen up to this point on the list, and that works well for me on a personal level. Just seeing this group come up with a plan to rob a casino, and we get to watch the plan play out step-by-step, filled with charming and suave individualsits SO entertaining. I dont necessarily need this to have deep theming or anything like that to find this an awesome, entertaining popcorn flic. And I love the fact that the movie manages to still throw in suspense to the plot without going so over-the-top that it completely renders the film unbelievable.

I think we watched the original Italian Job for Organized Crime, and I recall my critique of the film found it kind of boring in execution. They came up with a plan, and the plan went off without a hitch, aside from a car crash at the end. Theres no suspense about whether the criminals will succeed. In Oceans Eleven though, the movie sets up a plan and introduces hitches to that plan: they were going to knock out the power, but the demolition of a nearby casino did the a few days earlier, which means the technicians will prevent it from happening again. So, on the fly, the team steals an EMP to cause a different kind of blackout, but this leads to their acrobat hurting his hand, which means his bandage gets caught while blowing the door to the vault. And yet, it turns out there were back-up plans the whole time, and its just a matter of not giving the audience EVERY detail, so were still surprised when things go wrong that were SUPPOSED to go wrong.

And I also love the personal touch regarding Danny Ocean and Tess. Sure, robbing a casino to prove you can is finebut throwing in that little spite twist of Danny Oceans ex-wife dating the douchebag casino owner isnice. And I love the fact that while you have to micromanage every aspect of a robbery, theres the added wrinkle of trying to micromanage the interpersonal relationship of Terry Benedict and Tess so that Tess realizes Teddys a douchebag and isnt good for her. And wouldnt you know itTerrys personality is easy enough to predict that even this aspect of the plan goes perfectly, with him showing his true colors on-camera, and Danny gets the girl in the end. Its just the perfect capper to an already fascinating heist storyline.

Karo
Heister extraordinaire Danny Ocean puts together the ultimate crew of 11 criminals with the goal of pulling off the biggest job in Las Vegas history.
It is a little slow to start but once it gets going it is riveting throughout, as we go step by step in the meticulous planning of the crime. Although our point of view is the one of the criminals, the intricacies of the master plan is partially hidden from the viewer so we have a big 'how did he do it' reveal near the end.
It is certainly the definitive heist movie, and I don't think many people would challenge me on that point. It's so well known for a reason.

Seginus
Been a long time since Ive revisited this. I remembered it simply as a slick ensemble heist that happens to be a lot of fun, this time I found a meta angle to appreciate as well. Its a movie about filmmaking itself as a grand heist, one that requires a producer, director, actors, stunt guys, costume changes, elaborate sets, doctored footage, some pyrotechnics, and even a little foley work to pull off.

There is one thing I dont get though, what is Scott Caans actual role? Because his introduction clearly implies hes the driver, but in the end the getaway vehicle were expecting him in is revealed to be a decoy, and the entire getaway is misdirection. So what did they need Scott Caan for, other than banter? Did I miss something or is he just there to fool the audience? Because if so, I actually like that as a fourth-wall break.

If memory serves, twelve is even more fun.

Lightning
Been practicing that speech, havent you?

This is the kind of film that feels like, in 2001, it was made at basically the last possible moment. While it was not a wholly original film, it may as well have been, being based on a not very good or successful Rat Pack film from 1960 (which makes this the poster child for good remakes of bad films). Yet it was a giant success and absolutely star studded with a truly stacked cast and a big name director at the height if his powers. It feels like that almost never happens today.

Its also not massively hard to see why. This is an incredibly entertaining and well produced film peppered with (mostly) great performances from the likes of Brad Pitt and George Clooney. The word that comes to mind with every part of this film is slick. The characters are slick in universe, the film looks slick, the editing and pacing are slick, the writing is slick. This is a film that fully embodies what it is about. Helping things is that its also just fun.

Of course the big thing about this film is the twist ending. After effectively a whole film of setup it works like a magician revealing their trick, and makes it all work. Its a really satisfying conclusion to an enjoyable film. Now there are drawbacks here. Don Cheadles so-called British accent is truly awful. Also it does all feel a bit slight when you look back on it. Even taking all that into account though, this film is still really good overall.

4/5

jcgamer
The most average movie on the list, which is pretty good since it means there were 21 above average movies here. Good cast, sleek, competently-made, but doesnt really stand out as special compared to the other 29. And a remake, so not terribly original.
6/10

Johnbobb
Why I included it:
Pretty easily one of the most well-known and influential heist movies of the last several decades. Soderbergh was already a big deal before the series began, but Ocean's Eleven really kind of cemented his style as the style to replicate for the genre going forward. While initial reception to the film was only moderately positive, it's hard to deny the impact that it had on pop culture as a whole.

What I thought:
It's pretty good. Extremely 2000s in its casting, soundtrack, framing, etc. But also, what the fuck was going on with Cheadle's accent here?

Favorite 1/2 star Letterboxd review:
I just think the Y2K cynical-sleek style only works if the thing you're cynical about isn't your exwife