Ocean's Twelve | George Clooney, Brad Pitt | Not great, but not terrible, either

Ocean's Twelve | George Clooney, Brad Pitt | Underrated fluff

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Ocean's Twelve

	Ocean's Twelve George Clooney, Brad Pitt Warner Home Video, 2005 average customer review:based on 298 reviews view larger image
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Like its predecessor Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve is a piffle of a caper, a preposterous plot given juice and vitality by a combination of movie star glamour and the exuberant filmmaking skill of director Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, The Limey). The heist hijinks of the first film come to roost for a team of eleven thieves (including the glossy mugs of Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, and Don Cheadle), who find themselves pursued not only by the guy they robbed (silky Andy Garcia), but also by a top-notch detective (plush Catherine Zeta-Jones) and a jealous master thief (well-oiled Vincent Cassel) who wants to prove that team leader Danny Ocean (dapper George Clooney) isn't the best in the field. As if all that star power weren't enough--and the eternally coltish Julia Roberts also returns as Ocean's wife--one movie star cameo raises the movie's combined wattage to absurd proportions. But all these handsome faces are matched by Soderbergh's visual flash, cunning editing, and excellent use of Amsterdam, Paris, and Rome, among other highly decorative locations. The whole affair should collapse under the weight of its own silliness, but somehow it doesn't--the movie's raffish spirit and offhand wit soar along, providing lightweight but undeniable entertainment. --Bret Fetzer

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Not great, but not terrible, either

I know there are a lot of negative reviews out there of Ocean's Twelve. While I think it's the weakest movie of the trilogy, I don't think it's terrible. There are things about it that I don't like, but there are also things about it that I like, and these positive things make the movie watchable and enjoyable, at least for me.

First, the negative aspects of the film. There are three major problems that I see. First, the plot is unnecessarily complex. One of the many positive traits about Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Thirteen is that they're both straightforward heist movies, with plots that are easy to follow. The plot of Ocean's Twelve is too smart for its own good. The "twist" in the movie is kind of silly and not very believable. Second, in Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Thirteen, every member of the gang is given a significant role and screen time, both of which highlight their individual personalities and acting talents. In Ocean's Twelve, the characters of Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) and Frank Catton (Bernie Mac) are given minor roles and are missing from large portions of the film. The movie does suffer from the absence of Reiner and Bernie Mac. Third, the acting by most of the members of the gang is not up to the high standards set in both the first and third films. It seemed like a lot of the guys just stood around a lot and phoned in their performances. Only the acting of Catherine Zeta-Jones had any kind of weight to it.

Now for the positive aspects of the movie. David Holmes composed the music for all three movies, and his soundtrack for this movie is just as good as the other two films. The European locations were beautifully shot. I loved the sequence near the end of the movie of the Night Fox twisting and contorting his way through the lasers in the museum. The movie does have its funny moments, especially the long sequence after the opening when Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) confronts each member of the gang. And, I got the sense that the members of Ocean's gang respected one another, as evidenced by the ending sequence, and enjoyed working together.

So, all in all, I wouldn't call this a great movie, but I wouldn't call it terrible, either. I'd call it just good enough.

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Underrated fluff

A lack of pretension can cover a multitude of sins- even the lack of a plausible script. Such is the premise that Ocean's Twelve, the sequel to Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven remake of the Rat pack classic 1960s caper film, must have been pitched at studio executives with. Simply put, never has a film about less, with less characterization and more smug mugging for the camera ever worked better. There were a plethora of such films in the 1960s, both American and European, and even Japanese, but none with the star power this film has. Style, on very rare occasions, can trump substance, and this film is that exceptional one that proves that substance usually is king.
Ok, what of the plot? In the first film Danny Ocean (George Clooney)and his crew stole $160 million from the casino of a big time casino owning mobster named Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). This film opens three years later, with all eleven thrives hunted down and given a deadline with which to pay back the money with interest, or die. Of course, there are plot holes galore. The whole set up is untenable, and the fact that such smooth operators would so easily expose themselves is ridiculous. Still, there are some really funny scenes of Bernie Mac in a massage, Rusty (Matt Damon) as a lap dog, and assorted other funny scenes. Only Ocean manages to escape such a threat- but not for long, as he re-teams with the others to make things right....What I find amazing is how many reviewers panned this film. It reminded me of the roasting the 1998 Hollywood version of Godzilla got; as if a film about a big lizard stomping on New York would or should have been Oscar caliber? This is why I started off talking about pretense, and its ability to salvage potentially bad films. In this case, it works, and so does the film. Now, if Ocean's Thirteen were smart it would just focus all on Ms. Jones. Sometimes pretense has its charms!

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