neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Ocean's Eleven
	Steven Soderbergh George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia 2001		Why remake that evanescent monument to the cult of cool, "Ocean's 11," if the trifling original is gonna look good by comparison? A 21st-century take on the Rat Pack's caper movie — a throwaway romp through '60s-era Las Vegas by those kings of the Strip Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford — must have looked great on paper. With white-hot, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh ("Traffic," "Erin Brockovich," etc.) at the helm and and an all-star cast led by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle and Julia Roberts, the project had to shout boffo box-office and hip cachet at the pitch meeting. Eleven shady men, led by a slick but honorable Robin Hood type (Clooney), plan an elaborate casino robbery that will make them all millionaires. The end product, although occasionally amusing and intricate, is guilty of that greatest crime for a heist-capade: It's mundane. Only Elliott Gould and Carl Reiner, super in supporting roles, leave an impression.