Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) – Ocean’s Eleven
Danny Ocean: What? Rusty Ryan: I need a reason. And don’t say money. Why do this? Danny: Why not do it? [Rusty stares at him] Because yesterday I walked out of the joint after losing four years of my life and you’re cold-decking Teen Beat cover boys. Because the house always wins. Play long enough and never change the stakes, the house takes you. Unless, when that perfect hand comes along, you bet big. Then you take the house. Rusty: [Pauses] You’ve been practicing that speech, haven’t you? Danny: A little bit. Did I rush it? Rusty: No, it was good. I liked it. The Teen Beat thing was harsh.
Synopsis
After Reuben (Elliott Gould) gets double crossed by a new business partner, Willy Bank (Al Pacino), Danny (George Clooney), Rusty (Brad Pitt) and the rest of the gang set out for payback.
Review
I was not very impressed with Ocean’s Twelve. Granted my anticipation after Ocean’s Eleven may have been too high, it didn’t have the same heart. So going into Ocean’s Thirteen, I was a little more cautious. Maybe it was because my expectations were lower, but Ocean’s Thirteen is the sequel Ocean’s Eleven deserves.
Once again, the chemistry between not just George Clooney and Brad Pitt but the entire gang, is just so much fun. It all feels so natural, like this is just another day, another dollar. This is their third job as a group so it’s no surprise that they are as strong as ever. I’ve been amazed that throughout the entire Ocean’s series, even though the ensemble cast is very large, everyone still manages to get their own development and some sort of interaction with everyone else on the team.
The series started in Las Vegas, so it’s only natural that they return to Vegas for the last outing. Sequels have a very difficult task of needing to remain true to the original film while doing something to keep it feeling fresh. This is where Ocean’s Thirteen triumphs over Ocean’s Twelve. Twelve definitely had the right idea to change to location to Europe. However, it diverged from the core of Eleven too much. Thirteen goes back to its roots and feels much more like Eleven.
What makes this an interesting heist is that they aren’t stealing the money for themselves, but rather trying to screw Banks from his money and give it to his casino’s patrons. That is what I have liked about the Ocean’s series. This group is no doubt a group of thieves, but the are a lovable group of thieves and they have a code.
Throughout the previous Ocean’s films, Linus’ dad is regularly brought up. It is implied that he is an amazing thief and Linus (Matt Damon) gets upset every time he gets mentioned. Finally, we get to meet him and the meeting is every bit as humorous as you would expect it to be.
Ocean’s Thirteen gets back to what made Ocean’s Eleven so fun and enjoyable. They are back in Las Vegas, the job is simple, well simple from a story point of view, and the titular group is all together and are having a blast. Most the main players from the previous two films return in some capacity. This could have become a convoluted mess like Ocean’s Twelve, but thankfully it doesn’t and proves that simplicity is the key to a great heist film.
Favorite Quote
Saul: This is why revenge jobs don’t work, Daniel. You put yourself in a position you know you should walk away from but you can’t. That’s how guys die or go to jail.
Danny: Alright. So anybody want to walk away? [Everyone is silent]
Rusty: Saul?
Saul: I didn’t say I was walking away. Let’s gut the son of a bitch.
Trailer
Cast & Crew
Steven Soderbergh – Director
Brian Koppelman – Writer
David Levien – Writer
David Holmes – Composer
George Clooney – Danny Ocean
Brad Pitt – Rusty Ryan
Al Pacino – Willy Bank
Matt Damon – Linus Caldwell
Elliott Gould – Reuben Tishkoff
Eddie Jamison – Livingston Dell
Don Cheadle – Basher Tarr
Shaobo Qin – Yen
Casey Affleck – Virgil Malloy
Scott Caan – Turk Malloy
Bernie Mac – Frank Catton
Carl Reiner – Saul Bloom
Eddie Izzard – Roman Nagel
Andy Garcia – Terry Benedict
Ellen Barkin – Abigail Sponder
David Paymer – The VUP
Olga Sosnovska – Debbie
Vincent Cassel – Francois Toulour
Bob Einstein – Agent Caldwell
Synopsis
When Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) discovers “Ocean’s Eleven” were the ones responsible for robbing his casinos, he tracks them down and demands they repay him everything they stole, with interest. Unable to perform jobs in the United States, they travel to Amsterdam. While in Amsterdam, Danny (George Clooney) and Rusty (Brad Pitt) are challenged by Europe’s greatest thief, the Night Fox (Vincent Cassel), to find out who is the best thief in the world.
Review
A few of the things I discuss in this review may be spoiler-ish, so heads up.
Ocean’s Eleven is one of my all time favorite movies. So I was more than excited to see the whole gang back together again. Now I don’t say often that I’m let down by a movie (disappointed maybe, but not necessarily let down), but I’m let down by Ocean’s Twelve. The entire cast was returning, plus they were moving their operations to Europe, a place ripe with heist possibilities. It had so much going for it, but it never can harness it and becomes a mess.
I will start with some good and say this: the chemistry hasn’t changed and is still the best part about the film. The banter and playfulness that helped make Ocean’s Eleven so enjoyable still remains. Everyone returns for Ocean’s Twelve, including Tess, who gets a much bigger role. They are every bit as fun as before, never failing to bring a smile to your face.
Unfortunately, the group gets smaller and smaller as the movie goes on, limiting the interactions to only a handful by the end. It’s nice to see Linus (Matt Damon) starting to take some of the leadership role. It’s good character growth but there could have been a better way to build him up than take away Danny and Rusty. Oh wait, there was. Just look at Ocean’s Thirteen. Without the entire group together, it’s just not the same.
Even though this movie was about the heist, it didn’t feel like it was about the heist, if that makes sense. There was a lot of heist planning, but it was sporadic. As a result, the pacing suffered and felt awkward. Since the members are getting picked up by the authorities one by one, every time someone was captured, the remaining members had to come back and adjust the plan. Sometimes this can work well, look at The Next Three Days, but I don’t think it worked that well here. And with the reveal and the end, I’m left thinking ‘what was the point of that’ and I end up feeling I mostly wasted two hours.
Another fun part about Ocean’s Eleven was that even though there was a lot going on, it was still simple. Here, there’s this whole “wheels within wheels” thing going on that makes for a really complex plot that is very difficult to follow. Characters pop up, go away, then are briefly mentioned later on. Then again, the end just leaves one question: ‘why?’ This films tries to be clever but It trips over itself.
I know I’m bashing this movie pretty hard, but there is still fun to be had. Any time spent watching Danny Ocean and his merry band of thieves is always a good time. However, after enjoying the payoff of Ocean’s Eleven, the payoff from Ocean’s Twelve doesn’t compare. Not even close.
Cast & Crew
Steven Soderbergh – Director
George Nolfi – Writer
David Holmes – Composer
George Clooney – Danny Ocean
Brad Pitt – Rusty Ryan
Julia Roberts – Tess Ocean
Catherine Zeta-Jones – Isabel Lahiri
Matt Damon – Linus Caldwell
Casey Affleck – Virgil Malloy
Scott Caan – Turk Malloy
Shaobo Qin – Yen
Bernie Mac – Frank Catton
Don Cheadle – Basher Tarr
Carl Reiner – Saul Bloom
Eddie Jemison – Livingston Dell
Elliott Gould – Reuben Tishkoff
Andy Garcia – Terry Benedict
Vincent Cassel – Francois Toulour
Robbie Coltrane – Matsui
Eddie Izzard – Roman Nagel
Cherry Jones – Molly Star
Bruce Willis – Himself
Synopsis
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) put together a team of con-artists to rob three of the largest casinos on the Las Vegas strip simultaneously.
Review
Do you have one of those movies that you can watch over and over again and enjoy it your hundredth time just as much as your first time? Ocean’s Eleven is one of those movies for me. My best friend and I would watch this movie all the time. We could even quote the whole movie. I have seen this so many times that if I fall asleep while watching it, I can tell you the exact moment I fell asleep. I can’t say that about too many movies.
What really makes this movie click is George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Their chemistry is superb. Seriously, every time they are on screen together, you are in for a treat. Their conversations flow like old friends together again, which is what their characters are. These fun exchanges extend to more than just the two leads. The entire team bounces back and forth off each other throughout the entire movie.
As the title suggests, the cast is fairly large. Ensembles can be difficult to balance each character’s screen time. Danny gets the most focus, which makes sense since his name is in the title, but the film does a great job of balancing everyone. I felt that each character got at least one scene with every other character, leading to some of the great exchanges like I mentioned above.
I’ve said before that the main reason I enjoy heist movies is for the setup. About seventy-five percent of the movie is spent on the titular eleven working together to prepare for the heist. Again it all comes down to these characters interacting with each other. No matter who is in the scene, they will do or say something that will make you smile. There are as many visual gags as there are verbal. As always, seeing the heist pulled off is the biggest payout. There were times when the camera would zoom or focus on an item that didn’t make sense in the moment but would be focused on again in the end and it would become clear why that item was important. Small things like that bring the film together for me.
I’ve been talking a lot about the eleven that I haven’t even brought up the rest of the cast. Andy Garcia is intimidating as Terry Benedict, the victim of Danny Ocean’s plan. He is mentioned several times before he is actually seen on screen. The film gives you an idea of the kind of person he is before he even shows up. Then you see his cunning and ruthlessness for yourself. Julia Roberts as Tess was good, too. The only characters she talked to was Terry, Rusty, and Danny so she didn’t have as many scenes as the rest.
Ocean’s Eleven is so enjoyable simply because of the cast. The heist may not be the most exciting of movie heists, but the planning and interactions between all the characters is so enjoyable. If the chemistry wasn’t there, this movie would fall flat. Thankfully the chemistry is top notch, making it rise above so many similar films
Cast & Crew
Steven Soderbergh – Director
Ted Griffin – Screenplay
David Holmes – Composer
George Clooney – Danny Ocean
Brad Pitt – Rusty Ryan
Andy Garcia – Terry Benedict
Julia Roberts – Tess Ocean
Bernie Mac – Frank Catton
Elliott Gould – Reuben Tishkoff
Casey Affleck – Virgil Malloy
Scott Caan – Turk Malloy
Eddie Jemison – Livingston Dell
Shaobo Qin – Yen
Carl Reiner – Saul Bloom
Matt Damon – Linus Caldwell
Don Cheadle – Basher Tarr
Michale DeLano – Casino Manager (“Walsh”)
The third film I posted as a new blogger was World War Z. All I knew about this film going into the theater was that the “Z” pretty much stood for “Zombie” and it was based off a book. I didn’t read the book(s) so I can’t comment on the film as an adaptation but I’ve heard that it varies a lot from its source material. Anyway, for not knowing much about the film, I enjoyed it, so I guess that worked in my favor. Have a read for yourself.
Synopsis
When a disease turning the infected into zombies erupts across the world, Geoffrey Lane (Brad Pitt) is forced to travel the world looking for a cure in ensure his family is protected from the outbreak.
Review
I walked into the theater not knowing exactly what to expect from World War Z… except for zombies. Lots and lots of zombies. But sometimes, that is the best way to approach a movie because what I got was a very entertaining movie that kept me on the edge of my seat.
World War Z throws you right into the action right away. There was no build up, no background to what might of happened, it just hits the ground running. This is great because the viewer in immediately pulled in and engrossed in the film, but it did have a side effect, however. Because the action started within the first ten or fifteen minutes, the non-action part proceeding the opening sequence was much longer, and duller, than other action breaks throughout the movie.
The action sequences were pretty intense and fairly diverse. There was one action scene that happened in an apartment stairwell without any light, except from the light from a flare, that was pretty jarring. I understand it was done that way for the atmosphere, but it was still pretty annoying that I couldn’t see anything. Having the camera move around is (usually) alright, but adding the darkness made it a real pain to follow what was happening. Other than that, the camera did a fair job of framing the action and allowing everything to be seen.
These zombies were of the fast and aggressive variety. I know some people who are zombie purists and like their zombies moving slow, but being fast really added a lot to the film. When the zombies are slow, it seems like the characters lose their common sense, leading to some dumb mistake that gets them eaten/killed/turned by the zombies. The sheer amount of zombies often seen in movies, regardless of their speed, is overwhelming enough, but when they can be on top of you in the blink of an eye, they become much more terrifying and dangerous. This danger was felt all through the film, even during the quieter moments.
My favorite part about World War Z was the atmosphere and tension it was able to create. I lost count of how many times I noticed myself tensing up and had to relax. The atmosphere was very much like the video game Dead Space, where you know something is going to jump out, but you’re not sure of when or where. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my brother jump several times. This particular breed of zombie is attracted to sound and so when the characters were trying to sneak around, I was holding my breath. So even if it wasn’t an action sequence, the film was constantly keeping me on the edge of my seat and never really became dull.
Not everything was so tense. There was comedic relief laced throughout the movie. And the comedy didn’t feel forced, but organic, as comedy should feel.
I was initially expecting a different ending that what was given. It reminded me of another zombie movie ending that I won’t name to not give it away. Once the film reached its climax, but before I saw the very last scene, I felt like it should have ended a bit differently. However, after I thought about how I would have preferred it to end and think about how they could have done it within the context of the film, the ending makes the most sense for this movie.
The tension in World War Z made this movie for me. With no wait before starting the action, basically being thrown into the zombie outbreak almost immediately, great action scenes, as well as quiet scenes that were just as exciting, I was perpetually on the edge of my seat.
Rating
4/5
Trailer
Cast & Crew
Marc Forster – Director
Mathew Michael Carnahan – Screenplay / Screen Story
Drew Goddard – Screenplay
Damon Lindelof – Screenplay
J. Michael Straczynski – Screen Story
Marco Beltrami – Composer
Brad Pitt – Gerry Lane
Mireille Enos – Karin Lane
Daniella Kertesz – Segen
James Badge Dale – Captain Speke
Ludi Boeken – Jurgen Warmbrunn
Fana Mokoena – Thierry Umutoni
Elyes Gabel – Andrew Fassbach
Sterling Jerins – Constance Lane
Abigail Hargrove – Rachel Lane
Fabrizio Zacharee Guido – Tomas
Michael Huisman – Ellis
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) – Ocean’s Eleven
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