"That's a nice-a donut."
Friday, May 06, 2005
Ocean's Twelve
At one point in the second half of Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Twelve, the character played by Julia Roberts is impersonating Julia Roberts, while talking to Julia Roberts on the phone. If you haven't realized by that time that this doesn't quite follow the same formula as Ocean's Eleven, then you haven't been paying attention.
It is some three years after the events in Ocean's Eleven and victimized casino boss Terry Benedict (played by Andy Garcia) has decided that it is time to enact revenge on Danny Ocean (that would be George Clooney) and his crew of loveable criminals. And he gets his revenge by hunting them all down and demanding his money back... with interest... and they have two weeks to do it. That's his revenge? I thought that Benedict was ruthless and would even "go to work on you" after killing you? But I suppose that wouldn't make for a rousing star-showboating, audience-pleasing, money-making sequel. And so I digress. Anyway, the gang gets back together and since they've spent a good portion of their previous haul, they decide to get back in the game again. They head to Europe - including Amsterdam, Paris, and Rome - and begin to run into a few problems. There is a pesky investigator (Catherine Zeta-Jones) on their tale as well as a master thief by the name of "The Night Fox." It is a race between the Twelve and The Night Fox to get the goods before time runs out.
The details of the plot though are rather complex, sometimes confusing, and rather inconsequential. It often felt as if the details didn't actually matter - you know that in the end George, Brad, Julia, Matt, etc. would have a jolly good time and that their characters will succeed. The overall level of acting was fine; but most of these actors are playing the same basic roles that they have played numerous times before. Soderbergh took the first film and tried to infuse more of his brand of independent and stylish filmmaking. There are some unusual cuts and camera decisions; some of it works well, but much of the time I was wondering why they were necessary.
There are some good moments in the film though. My favorite was probably a scene early on with Topher Grace reprising his role from Ocean's Eleven as himself. The scene is a nice little satire on the excess and ego of Hollywood stars, not to mention a cheeky dig at "phoning in" performances. The Being Julia Roberts scene was humorous and also includes a "special guest star." Also the heist scenes were nicely filmed, including clever flashbacks to reveal some details. But all-in-all, whereas Ocean's Eleven was effortlessly cool and fun, Ocean's Twelve tries too hard to be and comes up a bit short.
The Verdict: C+.
Michael Bentley 9:31 AM
Archives
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
|
|
|
|
