Ocean's Eleven (2001) Review

Ocean's Eleven (2001) Review

 While we are in lockdown I thought I would try and watch some older franchises and the next one I have chosen is the Ocean's franchise starting with Ocean's Eleven, now this film is a remake but I thought it was the appropriate one to start with and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a group of 11 con artists attempt to rob the three most lucrative casinos in Las Vegas on a fight night. 

Main Character

George Clooney plays Danny Ocean in the film and he does a great job, he fills the charming and charismatic lead very well and I thought he was a natural fit to be the lead in this group and his character has the biggest arc in the film and the most motivation for completing this heist and his chemistry with Pitt is a real highlight for the film for sure. Brad Pitt plays his no1 ally and as mentioned above they have great chemistry together and it is pretty clear that Pitt is the coolest character in this film which is full of cool characters for sure. 

Supporting Characters

This film has one of the most star studded casts of all time so it is time to talk to about the great cast. Matt Damon plays another member of the crew and he is a great addition to the cast. He and Clooney have a bit of a rivalry but it works for the story and both of the characters are fleshed out by it. Andy Garcia plays the bad guy in the film and he does a great job, he is chilling and very swauve, you believe in him as the villain and to be honest you wonder what exactly he did wrong to deserve this robbery being planned against him. Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck and Elliot Gould are also really entertaining parts of the crew and have their own really great moments. The one person who doesn't get much to work with is Julia Roberts, she is written pretty poorly and I will talk about it more in the story why I think it is. 

Story

The story does a great job in making you root for this gang of criminals because they are so likeable, the introductions give each character a personality which helps flesh them out. Also I love watching a heist being planned and seeing the creative things they come up with. However, the love story for me jut doesn't work, you can tell this film came out a while ago as Roberts is written basically as an object and a plot device which is pretty ineffective.

Script

The script for this film is great, the humour really works and helps make the crew so fun and likeable, the interactions allows the film to flow and keep you interested as they plan. Though as mentioned above the dramatic dialogue doesn't quite work for me as most of it is involved with the love triangle and that just didn't work for me.

Style

The style of this film is so cool, this is presented as one of the most cool films ever made in terms of its style. Seeing a heist being planned and executed at Vegas which this crew really works and adds to the spectacle. The mix between suspense and coolness flows fantastically and makes this a better film to watch.

Overall

Overall, this is one of the better heist films ever made, it is a great time with a large well known cast and a very suspenseful conclusion.

Rating - 8/10