One more

Noel Vera

Frank Sinatra did "Ocean's Eleven" in 1960 as an excuse to have a
lark, roping in Lewis Milestone (a filmmaker who started in the
silent era, did the powerful 1930 anti-war film "All Quiet on the
Western Front," and by this time was an antediluvian anachronism) to
direct traffic; Steven Soderbergh is luckier than Milestone, in that
it was he who decided he was going to have fun, along with everyone
else he happened to cast, in remaking the picture. This "Ocean's
Eleven" bears all the marks of a relaxed, no-fuss movie, with
Soderbergh recycling actors and images and jokes where necessary
(George Clooney plays Sinatra's Danny Ocean as a reworking of his
convict-out-of-prison characters in "Out of Sight" and "O Brother,
Where Art Thou?"; the ending where Danny and his crew watch a
fountain show is inspired by a similar sequence in "The Right
Stuff"). Thanks to Soderbergh's not inconsiderable filmmaking
skills, it turned out to be a fairly good caper flick, better than
the material deserved, which was the whole point, I suppose--to
prove that he can slum it (or whore it) with the best of them, and
better than most. Don't mean he has made a slapdash picture, no--I'm
sure he applied every bit of passion and skill into the project as
he does his more serious ones--but it has the appearance of being
effortlessly done, which is, of course, the hardest effect of all to
produce.

In which case, "Ocean Twelve" would be--what, a sequel to the remake
of a lark? Whatever it is, Soderbergh, having proven the commercial
viability of the exercise, must have felt freer to do what he
wished, and bent upon doing it with a will. The sequel is visually a
touch more baroque than the original, with bright colors, handheld
shots, freeze-frames, jumps forward and backward in time, and
editing hiccups inherited from Jean-Luc Godard. Plotwise it's also
more complex, beginning as a "long arm of the past catches up" type
movie, as Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), villain of the previous
flick, appears beside each of the main characters wielding threats
and a cane, demanding his money back plus interest (in Danny's case
he makes representation to Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts), Danny's wife
and Terry's ex-squeeze); it becomes a "cop pursues thieves across
Europe" sort of picture, as a police officer (Catherine Zeta-Jones)
and former girlfriend of Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), one of the eleven,
puts herself on their trail with illegally signed orders; it finally
morphs into a "greatest criminal in the world" challenge as Night
Fox, a rival burglar whose real name is Francois Toulour (Vincent
Cassel) challenges Ocean to steal the same object he had stolen
years before: the Faberge Coronation Egg (one of my favorites from
the collection, complete with a beautifully made little golden
carriage inside). Soderbergh tops the overstuffed dish with a
sprinkling of improvised banter, in-jokes, homages to other movies,
plus a flourish of cameos (Robbie Coltrane, Jeroen Krabbe, and
Albert Finney (who worked with both Roberts and Soderbergh in "Erin
Brokovich") being my favorites) peeking out from the margins.

The key to making the whole thing work is the same as that of a
successful soufflé: experience, balls, timing. It's to Soderbergh's
credit that he has enough of all three to push the outside of the
envelope a tad bit, include one or two conceits that actually seem
daring, if not actually imaginative (the best demonstrates a self-
reflexive humor worthy of Pirandello, or at least Chuck Jones, or at
the very least maybe Joe Dante); if the movie fails, it's in the
moments when it takes itself seriously. I thought the character of
Tess was criminally wasted in "Eleven" because she represented the
most dramatic thread in that picture, the sexual rivalry between
Danny and Terry. That was supposed to provide "heart," to show that
Danny had something truly at stake when he chose Terry's casinos to
rob; what the subplot actually did was drag the movie down just when
it was supposed to gather momentum. In "Twelve," Robert's Tess
actually gets to do something, and it's the single best joke in the
movie--so good it tends to put the rest in shadow (if the movie
were all on this level of inventiveness, it might actually amount to
something). Here it's Catherine Zeta-Jones who gets the big drama
scene, and for about a few minutes, the picture falls flat (loved
the cameo, it's Zeta-Jones who I thought was inadequate)--recovers
somewhat after, but not on the same spirited level.

The cast is as competent as ever; Clooney may not be anywhere near
as good a singer as Sinatra, but he's at least as smooth an actor,
funnier and more willing to take risks; Brad Pitt is less offensive
and more credible than usual (he's always better in comic roles);
Roberts is a blast here where, as I noted, in "Eleven" she was dead
weight; Don Cheadle isn't any more convincing doing his alleged
cockney a second time around (at least he's toned down the rhyming
slang), but is still a welcome presence. My favorites, of course,
are the old timers--Elliot Gould as the irascible Reuben Tishkoff,
Carl Reiner as the mournful Saul Bloom. Vincent Cassel doesn't do
much as Francois (he made a much bigger impression in Gaspar
Noe's "Irreversible"), but does do a smashing dance number.

As for Soderbergh--he's one of America's most intelligent and
versatile filmmakers, of course, though I've always suspected that
when it comes to filmmaking (or to art in general) intelligence and
versatility aren't all that crucial. His best works aren't
necessarily his most serious ("Traffic" and "Solaris" come to mind),
and when he tries for big moments, he's not as good as a less
intelligent, less tasteful, more imaginative filmmaker might be.
He's best when he's channeling a pretty good writer who does
convincing characters (his adaptation of Elmore Leonard's "Out of
Time"), or when he's lucked upon a good screenplay and an actor ripe
for a great performance (Lem Dobbs and Terence Stamp, respectively,
in "The Limey"). He's an interesting filmmaker--or, at least,
interesting enough; the aforementioned films and the "Ocean" movies
may represent the best of his range.

First published in Businessworld, 1/7/05

(Comments? Email me at noelbotevera@...)