Bovie Movie

Despite returning to Las Vegas where the series began, Steven Soderbergh’s second sequel to 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven fails to rediscover the sheer insouciance of the original. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and the rest of the cast reprise their roles as the charming conmen, who this time target the hi-tech casino of ruthless Vegas businessman Willy Bank (Al Pacino). The strength of the series was always its breezy enthusiasm, but here there’s a chronic lack of fun: Pacino barely gets out of first gear, while Clooney seems to have his mind on other things. Only Ellen Barkin appears to be enjoying herself, shining in a comic role that sees her dosed with potent pheromones and seduced by a heavily disguised Matt Damon. Apparently there won’t be an “Ocean’s Fourteen”; clearly, Soderbergh’s under no illusions that Ocean’s winning streak has dried up at last. 

This action thriller tries very hard to be offbeat and quirky, but misses the mark and ends up as a second-rate rip-off of the humorous hitman gem Grosse Pointe Blank. Mark Wahlberg does well as the girl-juggling assassin, though Lou Diamond Phillips overdoes his performance as Wahlberg’s accomplice. To be fair, though, any actor who tries to give of their best from this calibre of script is flogging a dead horse. Despite a dazzling pair of slam-bang action bookends from director Kirk Wong, it’s just not clever, funny or engaging enough to be the exercise in killer cool it clearly craves to be. 

George Clooney and his A-list pals have fun in the Las Vegas sun in this thoroughly enjoyable caper from director Steven Soderbergh. In a loose remake of the 1960 Rat Pack venture of the same name, Clooney comfortably steps into Frank Sinatra’s shoes as Danny Ocean, who is fresh out of jail but still plans to pull off an audacious heist with the help of a ten-man crew. His star cronies include Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Carl Reiner and Don Cheadle, who affects the worst cockney accent you’ve ever heard. The plan is to hit the vault containing the take from three of the biggest casinos in Vegas, all of which belong to Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the guy who just happens to be dating Ocean’s ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts). This is one of those films that’s a joy from start to finish, but doesn’t strain the brain for a second. Thankfully, the mechanics of the heist take second place to the glorious interplay of a stellar cast that is clearly having a ball with the sharp, quick-fire dialogue.