Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Grade:A-
Steven Soderberg is certainly an interesting filmmaker. Even if his films end up slow or failures, they are no doubt interesting failures. He has an independent sensibility to him and in Ocean’s Twelve, it’s like he’s a director surprised to find himself directing a mainstream big-budget film. However, when he gets good material, he makes great films. Ocean’s Twelve is a great film.
Ocean’s Eleven was an extremely entertaining but curiously hollow film. It was a lot of fun, but there was a certain distance from the material for whatever reason. With its sequel, director Soderberg has managed to translate the fun of making the film to the audience. The actors all look like they’re having a blast, and as a result, this time around we have a blast, too.
The paper-thin plot concerns the original crew of the Ocean’s Eleven heist being compelled to pay back the money to the owner of the casino (Andy Garcia) they stole it from. Thus, an excuse for a reunion of the original team from the first film is thrust into motion, and the usual comedic and witty hijinks ensue.
Added to this outing is the inclusion of Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a Europol agent tracking the group of thiefs. She and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) were once a romantic couple, but once he found out she was about to discover him as a thief, he fled. Zeta-Jones blends in nicely with the original cast, and she has some nice chemistry with Pitt during their romantic sessions. Also new to the cast is Vincent Cassel as François Toulour, an aristocrat and thief who challenges Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his group to a challenge to see who is really the best thief.
This is all paper-thin, as I said before. The ultimate litmus test for the film, then, is whether or not you care that the plot is outlandish and completely unrealistic, and whether or not the immense charm of these A-list actors is enough to carry a film for you. For this reviewer, these two elements were what made the film so enjoyable. This is an escapist film, one in which you suspend all disbelief and sit down with no expectations except to be entertained.
However, on top of entertaining, this film has a great visual style to it. There are a lot of innovative title cards (especially the way Amsterdam is introduced), some nifty zooms and handheld shots, and a great color scheme to the film. It looks like it was shot on digital cameras, too, so there’s a nice grain to the shots.
The film isn’t perfect. There is an extended sequence in the final third where Julia Roberts playing Tess, Danny’s wife, poses as Julia Roberts with hilarious results. The problem is that while the joke is a clever one, it’s a joke that yields about five minutes of good material, not ten as the film tries to milk it for. It’s the weak point of the film, but it doesn’t kill it. The plot is also convoluted beyond measure and I quite honestly couldn’t tell you with precision what happened with the various heists and double-crossings.
However, when all was said and done, I was practically grinning the whole time. Sure, the movie is perhaps too clever and too fluffy, but when it’s this much fun to sit through, who cares? Ocean’s Twelve is a pretty good heist movie and a great ensemble comedy featuring an incredibly talented group of beautiful actors. What’s not to love?
Bottom Line:
There’s a paper-thin plot here, but it’s merely just an excuse for exotic European locations, beautiful A-list stars, and clever in-jokes about the cast. It’s immensely entertaining.
© 2004-2009 Ben Waldorf. Posted July 23, 2006. IMDB