Steven Soderbergh's sexy and smart heist caper is that rare beast: a Hollywood remake which surpasses the original. The inspiration is a 1960 Rat Pack movie starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr about a team of crooks planning a series of daring raids on Las Vegas casinos. In the new version, George Clooney plays ringleader Danny Ocean, who walks out of prison (on parole) and begins planning his final and greatest ruse: the simultaneous thefts of three Las Vegas casinos - the Mirage, the MGM Grand and the Bellagio - using a championship boxing match between Lennox Lewis and Vladimir Klitschko (playing themselves) as cover. In order to pull off the crime of the century, Danny needs to a crew he can rely upon, so he re-establishes contact with his gang of shady associates. First up is Danny's trust sidekick, card shark Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), who is always snacking between heists. Rusty helps his old friend to round up the usual suspects, whose expertise will prove invaluable in gaining access to the casinos' high security vaults. The motley crew includes master pick pocket Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon), demolition expert Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle), ebullient security expert Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), veteran con artist Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner), drivers Virgil and Turk Malloy (Casey Affleck, Scott Caan), card dealer Frank Catton (Bernie Mac), surveillance expert Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison), and Chinese acrobat Yen (Shaobo Qin), whose physical agility will be vital. Danny claims to have every eventuality covered, and the team is well drilled in gaining access to the vault and retrieving the money, so what could possibly go wrong? Cue Danny's feisty and still embittered ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts), who just happens to be dating the target: arrogant casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). Tess is less than pleased to see her ex-husband in Las Vegas, but Benedict is even more annoyed, especially when he discovers his love rival's predilection for robbery. However, once he learns that Danny is breaking his parole to be in the gambling capital, Terry senses an opportunity to get rid of his love rival once and for all. Now the stakes really are raised, as Danny plots to steal both Terry's money and his girl from right under his nose. Ocean's Eleven is an actors' movie, and the A-list ensemble cast comes up trumps, with Clooney as debonair as ever, Damon suitably edgy as the wet-behind-the-ears new recruit, and Pitt upping the comedy ante. Gould has rarely been better and Reiner is delightful as the veteran whose failing health threatens to derail Danny's daring scheme. The sole bum is Cheadle, whose faux Cockney accent grates, and serves no dramatic purpose. On screen chemistry between Clooney and Roberts spirals well above room temperature, and their face-to-face confrontations ignite with sexual energy. Dialogue between the pair is coolly elegant. \"You're a thief and a liar,\" snipes Tess, preparing for an argument. \"I only lied about being a thief,\" retorts Danny. \"You don't do that anymore?\" she replies, hoping to get a rise out of him. \"Steal?\" he asks, with a glint in his eyes. \"Lie.\" Repartee between the members of Danny's gang is equally hip and lyrical, like the su, ltry jazz orchestral score. The robbery itself is brilliantly conceived, suspenseful to the very end through a series of hairpin twists and turns that should keep audiences on the edge of their seats. A feelgood final reel replaces the comical and downbeat ending of the original. Ocean's Eleven is determined to thrill and entertain, and it succeeds in spades.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>","fnc":"googleTrackerHelper.doTrackPage( '\/'Oceans-Eleven-film_options~14269'\/Reviews\/ViewAll\/1' );"}