Rating- * * * * (4/5)
In the golden days of Hollywood, directors would often find themselves with budget spillovers and actors would find themselves with a little down-time. All of this would eventually lead to a movie being made not to make money, although they certainly would, or to win awards, which they certainly wouldn’t; they were just made for the fun of it. These days, studios are so tight about their money and about their image that movies can’t get made for the fun of it anymore. But when Steven Soderbergh signed on to direct the remake of this less than stellar Rat Pack movie, it was decided that making a fun movie might actually make some money. Soderbergh invited all of his buddies to come and appear in his film and the result was one of the biggest all-star casts of all time: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, and Carl Reiner, just to name a few. Now, don’t get the impression that just because this movie was made for fun that it has no plot. The movie is actually a very entertaining heist movie about a group of guys who are attempting a massive robbery on the vault for three of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. The high-tech gadgets and inventive scheme the robber use is very interesting and the problems faced along the way make for some good excitement. The real kicker comes at the end when the way the robbery was pulled off is finally revealed. Although the heist is great, the real entertainment value comes from the scenes between Clooney and the characters he meets when trying to recruit his crew for the heist. He also has some great scenes with Julia Roberts and Andy Garcia and the dialogue is some of the most clever you’ll see in any recent movie. Ultimately, there is something for everyone in Ocean’s Eleven and it is certainly one of the most entertaining and clever films of the last few years, despite that it falls well below the level of potential for Soderbergh and the cast. This is just a great piece of Hollywood magic and if you, like movies, you can’t afford to miss this one.