Review: Ocean's Eleven Lays The Groundwork For All Heist Films
- Jun 6, 2018
- 2 min read
This heist remake with an all-star ensemble cast wasn't the first, it wasn't the best, and it wasn't the biggest. But like a ballet or a synchronised swimming routine, it's graceful and refined, and when all the parts come together, it's beautiful.
You've heard this tale before, in some form. Danny Ocean (George Clooney) gets out of prison and immediately starts planning to rob three large Las Vegas casinos. His friend Rusty (Brad Pitt) agrees, as it will get back at the man who owns all three. They put a team together of a particular number of skilled specialists, and put together an elaborate heist to rob the three casinos in one night. If I added any more detail regarding the heist, it'd be like narrating a car chase - it takes the fun out of watching it unfold, and doesn't do it justice.
This movie is really difficult to review properly. See, I really enjoy Ocean's Eleven, and think that it's a great film. But I really only appreciate the second half of the movie - the setup for the heist when the team is assembled, and then the heist itself. I don't care about Danny Ocean's quest to reunite with Julia Roberts, or how any of the eleven know each other, or actually anything that happens in Act One. So the question must be asked: if the first half wasn't good, is it still a good movie?
My response to that is, the heist itself and the brilliant twist is the focus of the film. Even if it wasn't, it's strong enough to carry the film and warrant an average review. But because the rest of the movie is all just setting up for the final act, the important part is how good the final act is.
The first act is boring, the second act is slow, but it's all worth it in the end for a killer cast and an interesting twist. Ocean's Eleven is a refined slow-burner which spends half its runtime boring you, but leaves you going, "That's a great movie".
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