Ocean's Eleven (2001)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writers (WGA):

George Clayton Johnson (1960 story) &
Jack Golden Russell (1960 story) ...

Release Date:

7 December 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Are You In Or Out?

Plot:

Danny Ocean and his ten accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.

Plot Keywords:

Con Man | Mastermind | Cockney Accent | Perfect Crime | Long Con

Awards:

3 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

George Clooney	...	Danny Ocean
Cecelia Ann Birt	...	Board Member #1 (voice) (as CeCeLia Birt)
Paul L. Nolan	...	Board Member #2 (voice)
Carol Florence	...	Board Member #3 (voice)
Lori Galinski	...	Blackjack Dealer
Bernie Mac	...	Frank Catton
Brad Pitt	...	Rusty Ryan
Mark Gantt	...	Bartender
Timothy Paul Perez	...	Security Guard
Elliott Gould	...	Reuben Tishkoff
Frank Patton	...	Lockbox Carrier
Casey Affleck	...	Virgil Malloy
Scott Caan	...	Turk Malloy
Eddie Jemison	...	Livingston Dell
Jorge R. Hernandez	...	FBI Man #1

Also Known As:

11 (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
O11 (USA) (informal short title)
Ocean's 11 (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some language and sexual content.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

Cantonese | English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #38543) | Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:MG6 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | Greece:K-13

Filming Locations:

999 N Patencio, Palm Springs, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Terry Benedict is heard on the phone refusing the request of a "Mr. Levin" to attend the prizefight ringside, saying he should instead watch it on cable TV as "surely he must have HBO." In real life, Gerald Levin is chairman of Time-Warner, of which HBO is a subsidiary, as is Warner Brothers, the film's distributor.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The $100 dollar bill is currently the largest US note in circulation (and has been since the sixties). One million dollars in $100 bills (10,000 notes) weighs about 22 pounds according to the US Treasury Dept web site. Therefore $160MM dollars would weight about 3,520 pounds. There is no way eight people could carry that much weight in canvas bags in one trip from the vault to the SWAT van.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[At Parole Hearing]
Woman's Voice: Good Morning.
Danny: Morning.
Woman's Voice: Please state your name for the record.
Danny: Daniel Ocean.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 'Solaris': Behind the Planet (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

69 Police

Tasty cast in very cool and slick movie

What a tasty prospect for a film: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts and for the young at heart amongst us, Joshua Jackson of 'Dawson's Creek' fame in a cameo role -all directed by the Oscar winning Steven Soderbergh!

George Clooney plays Danny Ocean who soon after being released from prison, puts together a team of eleven to undertake a robbery of the three biggest casinos in Las Vegas in an attempt to bring in a reward of $150 million. What soon becomes clear is that it's not the money which will give Danny the ultimate satisfaction, but the opportunity to get revenge on the owner of the three casinos he is robbing -Benedict (Andy Garcia) who just happens to be the new beau of Danny's ex, Tess (Julia Roberts).

Some of the gang of eleven are more memorable than others -especially the Chinese acrobat, the explosives expert with a dodgy cockney accent and the medallion wearing Reuben -aka Monica Gellar's dad! The cast are brilliant at acting cool -even if all Brad Pitt is doing is snacking on the screen (he does this a lot!), you are still transfixed by him because he looks so good on screen.

What makes the story so intriguing is the fact that Danny's mission seems so impossible: security in the casinos is paramount and the route to the reward is littered with obstacles. The number of close calls that the gang is faced with is great fun and one can't help but root for these crooks throughout the film. It is also refreshing to watch a film which is dominated by male stars and is not filled with macho swearing. Instead, we have a banter between the stars which is indicative of their camaraderie.

'Ocean's Eleven' is a welcome option in the choice of movies available at the moment which is dominated by Oscar nominees that are not going to be everyone's cup of tea. With this film, it's simply a case of sit back and enjoy the fun!