Wednesday, Dec.15, 2004

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Ocean’s Twelve - Steal This Movie! When watching “Ocean’s Eleven” or the as good, if not better sequel “Ocean’s Twelve,” it is hard to not see the stars for who they are. There are moments when you see Brad Pitt as Rusty or Matt Damon as Linus, but for the most part, you just see the actor or actress. That’s not a complaint and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It is often hard for Jim Carrey or Tom Cruise to disappear in a role as well and they’ve done O.K. In fact, in the case of “Ocean’s Twelve,” the mega-wattage of stardom assembled for the film gives the cast, the writer George Nolfi and director Steven Soderbergh more to play with. On more than one occasion in the movie, an actor spoofs on themselves or at least their image, including a terrific cameo from Topher Grace who also popped up in the first film. While all this tongue in cheek, wink-wink shtick is fun, the movie is still about Danny Ocean and friends having to steal things to pay back casino owner Terry Benedict. Benedict tracks down all of the 11 thieves at the beginning of the film, warning them to give him his $160 million plus interest or they are all dead. The team reunites, heads to Europe to get to thieving and hits a bit of a wall when master thief, the Night Fox, begins beating them to the loot. It is then a matter of outsmarting the Night Fox and proving that they are the best thieves in the world. To make things tougher this time around, they must also try to outsmart a Europol agent that Rusty used to date. Once again, the heists are incredibly clever, as is the banter between the members of the team. Every performance seemed to be dead on with several actors, notably Damon and Don Cheadle, having a bit more to do this time around. Catherine Zeta Jones is a welcome addition as Isabel, the Europol agent, and a number of fun cameos from people like comedian Eddie Izzard keep things interesting as the story bounces around Europe. In fact, Europe and the shots of the old country are as central to the film’s success as the A-list cast. Soderbergh takes an almost independent film approach to the movie, giving “Ocean’s Twelve” a unique look and feel. The music by David Holmes is also prominent and becomes one of the key elements of the film, perfectly fitting in each scene. “Ocean’s Twelve” isn’t going to be an award-winning movie but it’s not trying to be. Unlike “National Treasure” which seemed to take itself too seriously, “Ocean’s Twelve” has fun seeing the sights, staying one step ahead of the “bad guys” and trying to nab the loot.