Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)

Ocean's Eleven
Directed by	Steven Soderbergh
Produced by	Jerry Weintraub
Screenplay by	Ted Griffin 1960 Screenplay: Harry Brown Charles Lederer
Story by	George C. Johnson Jack Golden Russell
Starring	George Clooney Brad Pitt Matt Damon Andy García Julia Roberts Bernie Mac Don Cheadle Casey Affleck Scott Caan Elliott Gould Eddie Jemison Shaobo Qin Carl Reiner
Music by	David Holmes
Cinematography	Steven Soderbergh
Editing by	Stephen Mirrione
Studio	Village Roadshow Pictures JW Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	December 7, 2001 (2001-12-07)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$85 million
Box office	$450,728,529

Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American comedy-crime caper and remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts. The film was a success at the box office and with critics. Soderbergh directed two sequels, Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in 2007.

Plot

After being released from prison, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) breaks parole and travels to Los Angeles to meet up with his former partner in crime and close friend Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) to propose a scheme he has in mind. The two go to Las Vegas to pitch the plan to wealthy friend and former casino owner Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould). The plan consists of simultaneously robbing the Bellagio, The Mirage, and the MGM Grand casinos. Reuben's familiarity with casino security makes him very reluctant to get involved, but when he begins to think of it as a good way to get back at his rival, Terry Benedict (Andy García), who owns the three casinos, Reuben agrees to finance the operation. Because the casinos are required by the Nevada Gaming Commission to have enough cash on hand to cover all their patrons' bets, the three predict that, on the upcoming night of a highly anticipated boxing match, the Bellagio vault will contain more than $150 million.

Ocean and Ryan recruit eight former colleagues and criminal specialists, including Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon), a young and talented pick-pocket thief. Also recruited are Frank Catton (Bernie Mac), a casino worker and con man, Virgil and Turk Malloy (Casey Affleck and Scott Caan), a pair of gifted mechanics, Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison) an electronics and surveillance expert, Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) an explosives expert, Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) an elderly con man, and "The Amazing" Yen (Shaobo Qin) an accomplished acrobat. Several of the team members carry out reconnaissance at the Bellagio to learn as much as possible about the security, the routines and behaviors of the casino staff, and the building itself. Others create a precise replica of the vault with which to practice maneuvering through its formidable security systems. During this planning phase, the team discovers that Ocean's ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), is Benedict's girlfriend. Ryan urges Ocean to give up on the plan, believing Ocean incapable of sound judgement while Tess is involved, but Ocean refuses.

When the plan is put in motion, Ocean goes to the Bellagio in order to be seen by Benedict, who, as expected, has him locked in a storeroom to be beaten by a bouncer called Bruiser. Ocean, however, knows Bruiser, and he allows Ocean to leave through a ventilation shaft, to meet with his team in the vault. Linus Caldwell poses as a gaming commission agent, and reveals to Benedict that Ramon Escalante is actually Frank Catton, an ex-con. Caldwell and Catton stage a faux confrontation to allow Linus to steal Benedict's access card. Yen is smuggled into the vault by the Malloy brothers, to assist in triggering the explosive from the inside. Saul Bloom sneaks explosive into the casino vault by posing as an international arms dealer needing especially secure safekeeping for his valuables, and then stages a heart attack that was treated by Ryan posing as a doctor.

The team activates a stolen pinch device to temporarily disrupt the casino's electrical power, allowing them to breach the vault undetected. As Benedict attempts to restore order following the power outage, Ryan anonymously calls him on a cell phone that Ocean had earlier planted in Tess's coat. Ryan tells him that the vaults are being raided, and that all the money will be destroyed if Benedict does not cooperate in loading half the money into a van waiting outside. Benedict observes video footage of the vault that confirms Ryan's claims, and complies in moving the money, but orders his men to follow the van after it departs, and calls a S.W.A.T. team to secure the vault. The S.W.A.T. team's arrival results in a shootout which causes the incineration of the half of the money left in the vault. After assuring Benedict that the casino is secure, the officers depart.

Benedict's men following the van discover that it is being driven remotely, and that, instead of money, it contains duffel bags full of flyers advertising prostitutes. Terry realizes that the vault video feed was faked as the vault floor in the footage lacked the Bellagio logo, which had recently been installed. A flashback reveals that Ocean had used the vault replica to create the fake video Benedict had seen; the rest of the team posed as S.W.A.T. officers, and took all of the money in the vault when responding to Benedict's call for police assistance. Benedict then returns to the room where he left Ocean and finds him still there, leaving him with no way to connect Ocean to the theft. As Tess watches via security surveillance, Ocean gets Benedict to say he would give up Tess in exchange for the money. Ocean then says he "knows a guy", but Benedict tips off the police. Tess leaves Benedict, and exits the hotel just in time to see Ocean arrested for violating parole. When he is released, he is met by Rusty and Tess, and the three drive off, closely followed by Benedict's bodyguards.

Cast

Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy García, Julia Roberts, and Steven Soderbergh in December 2001

Ocean's Eleven

In order of recruitment:

1. George Clooney as Danny Ocean
2. Bernie Mac as Frank Catton
3. Brad Pitt as Rusty Ryan
4. Elliott Gould as Reuben Tishkoff
5. Casey Affleck as Virgil Malloy
6. Scott Caan as Turk Malloy
7. Eddie Jemison as Livingston Dell
8. Don Cheadle as Basher Tarr
9. Shaobo Qin as "The Amazing" Yen
10. Carl Reiner as Saul Bloom
11. Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell

Others

• Andy García as Terry Benedict
• Julia Roberts as Tess Ocean

Cameos

• Five television actors make cameos as themselves, being taught how to play poker by Rusty:
  • Holly Marie Combs
  • Topher Grace
  • Joshua Jackson
  • Barry Watson
  • Shane West
• Steven Soderbergh as one of the bank robbers with Basher
• Siegfried and Roy as themselves
• Wayne Newton as himself
• Henry Silva and Angie Dickinson as themselves (both appeared in the original)
• Wladimir Klitschko as himself
• Lennox Lewis as himself
• Jerry Weintraub as a high-roller gambler^a[›]

Reception

Critical

The film holds an 81% "Certified Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes.^[1] People magazine called the film "pure fun from start to finish,"^[2] and included it in its end-of-year Best of Screen list.^[3] Newsweek said Ocean's Eleven "bounces along with finger-snapping high spirits," and said that while Soderbergh has "made deeper films, ...this carefree caper movie is nothing to sneeze at."^[4] Time magazine's reviewer Richard Corliss criticized the film, saying it "doesn't offer much." In a poll during November 2008, Empire magazine called Ocean's Eleven the 500th best film on The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. For Don Cheadle's role in this film, he needed to learn to speak with a cockney accent, which was slaughtered by critics and is recognised as being one of the worst accents in film.^[5] Don Cheadle commented on his accent, saying "My British friends... tell me [it's] a truly terrible London accent in Ocean's 13. You know something, I really worked on that accent. Went to London, spoke to people, got to know it... my agent said it was fine, so I'm stuck with this thing. Even though everyone laughs at me. So I sacked her, of course".^[6]

Entertainment Weekly put "The Ocean's Eleven heist scene" on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Featuring three impregnable Vegas casinos and 11 ring-a-ding criminals, Steven Soderbergh's 2001 roll of the dice provided the most winning robbery sequence of the decade."^[7]

Commercial

Ocean's Eleven had a budget of about $85 million. On its opening weekend, it grossed an estimate of $38 million and was the top box office draw for the weekend.^[8][9] The film grossed $183,417,150 in the United States and grossed $267,311,379 overseas leaving a worldwide gross of $450,728,529.^[10]

References

1. ^ "Ocean's Eleven". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oceans_eleven/. Retrieved 2008-02-07. 
2. ^ Leah Rozen (2001-12-10). "Picks & Pans: Screen". People: 56. 
3. ^ "Best of Screen". People: 56. 2001-12-31. 
4. ^ David Ansen (2001-12-17). "Boys Just Wanna Have Fun". Newsweek: 138. 
5. ^ http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/news/article_1286422.php/Don_Cheadle_s_terrible_accent
6. ^ http://www.empireonline.com/features/worst-british-movie-accents/3.asp
7. ^ Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "THE 100 Greatest MOVIES, TV SHOWS, ALBUMS, BOOKS, CHARACTERS, SCENES, EPISODES, SONGS, DRESSES, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND TRENDS THAT ENTERTAINED US OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84
8. ^ "Ocean's $38.1 Million". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0085188/. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
9. ^ "Ocean's Eleven (2001) - Box office/business". IMDb. December 11, 2001. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240772/business. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 
10. ^ "Ocean's Eleven - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers". The Numbers. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2001/OCEAN.php. Retrieved December 31, 2010. 

External links

• Official website
• Ocean's Eleven at AllRovi
• Ocean's Eleven at the Internet Movie Database
• Ocean's Eleven at Rotten Tomatoes