Dir. Steven Soderbergh, 2004, USA, 125 mins
Cast:
George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta Jones, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Elliott Gould, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac
The gang's all here! Three years have passed since Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his partners in crime robbed the vault in a Las Vegas casino owned by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). Having split their share of the millions that they stole, the members of Ocean's Eleven go their separate ways. Ocean now lives quietly with his wife Tess (Julia Roberts); Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) runs a hotel, while the other members of the team spend their time and money in a variety of ways. However, Benedict suddenly reappears on the scene and somehow manages to track down every member of the team. He demands they pay him back the money that they stole from him in Vegas - with interest - in two weeks. If they don't. well, you can guess the rest.
Ocean and his gang are soon reunited and conclude that the only way to raise enough money to pay Benedict back is to pull off another heist or two.or more. Realising that they are too well known after their Vegas caper to be able to pull off a heist in the US , the team decide to go abroad. Ocean and his crew settle on Amsterdam and once they arrive, they quickly plan their first heist. However, a couple of spanners are thrown in the works that complicate their plan. The first is a Europol agent named Isabel (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who once dated Rusty, but who is now eager to catch him and lock him up. The second is The Night Fox, a mysterious thief who may just be able to outwit Ocean's crew. How will Ocean and his team avoid getting captured by Isabel and outsmarted by The Night Fox? And just who will be the twelfth member of Ocean's team and how will they become involved in the increasingly convoluted events that unfold?
If this synopsis makes Ocean's Twelve sound like an elaborate exercise in deception, you'd be right. If you think this means that the film will be a serious, weighty piece of work, then you're wrong. Like Ocean's Eleven , this is the cinematic equivalent of a chill out session (a feeling enhanced by composer David Holmes' smooth score). Director Steven Soderbergh and his all-star cast take it easy and the film is a slick ride through a variety of glamorous locations. Instead of taking a holiday away from filmmaking, you can imagine that the two Ocean's films are Soderbergh's idea of a break. The entire main cast from the original film return for this new outing, along with a few new faces. Unfortunately, the film is so densely populated with big names that many good performers are left off screen for what feels like half the film. This may be all part of the plot that Soderbergh and screenwriter George Nolfi have concocted, but it's a let down when so many talented and rarely seen performers are underused. Of course, stars like Clooney, Roberts, Pitt, Zeta-Jones and Matt Damon will draw the crowds, but terrific actors like Bernie Mac and Eddie Jemison are barely used, and they are performers that deserve to be seen by a wider audience.
Then again, even Clooney and Roberts spend a lot of time off screen, which makes sense in a way, as their story was essentially told in the first film. This time, much of the plot focuses on the relationship between Pitt's thief and Zeta-Jones' investigator, as well as Damon's attempts to establish himself as the head of a crew. This film's focus on other characters could also be Soderbergh's way of slyly undermining of our expectations. The director constantly pulls the rug from under our feet, spending a lot of screen time setting up heists that are over in a matter of seconds, or introducing new characters and incidents that constantly threaten to interrupt the narrative flow. Soderbergh also employs an array of playful film techniques to tell his story, including jump cuts and freeze frames, which keep the film bubbling along. There's even an extended gag that almost serves as a deconstruction of the movie itself. This bizarre in-joke is a piece of self-referential humour that will delight some (who may see this as a fun, smart joke), and infuriate others (who may think it is just an excuse to flatter the egos of all concerned).
Although the film has a relaxed pace and is slickly done, it's almost too laid back for its own good. There's never any sense of danger or feeling of suspense that could involve the audience in the drama more. Benedict's sudden reappearance and his threats against the team are initially menacing, but we all know that he's never going to pose a serious threat, because the tone of the film is predominantly light-hearted throughout. When looked at alongside Soderbergh's other films, Ocean's Twelve is yet another of the director's films that deals with an estranged couple and their attempts to sort their relationship out. I'm sure any attempt at a serious analysis of this film would be amusing to the filmmakers. There's nothing loaded with deep significance in this movie - it's a lark and a brief diversion, nothing more. Anything more serious or more realistic might have upset the good time that everyone no doubt had when they made the film. In the end, Ocean's Twelve is a well crafted, but instantly forgettable film, which manages to coast along on the charm of its actors and is held together by Soderbergh's directorial skill and confidence.
Martyn Bamber
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