Tags
2000's, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac, Brad Pitt, Caper, Carl Reiner, Casey Affleck, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Comedy, Crime, Don Cheadle, Eddie Jemison, Elliott Gould, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Ocean's Twelve, Scott Caan, Shaobo Qin, Steven Soderbergh, Vincent Cassel
Film Title
Ocean’s Twelve
Director
Steven Soderbergh
Starring
- George Clooney as Danny Ocean
- Brad Pitt as Rusty Ryan
- Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Isabel Lahiri
- Julia Roberts as Tess Ocean
- Andy Garcia as Terry Benedict
- Don Cheadle as Basher Tarr
- Bernie Mac as Frank Catton
- Casey Affleck as Virgil Malloy
- Scott Caan as Turk Malloy
- Vincent Cassel as Francois Toulour/ The Night Fox
- Eddie Jemison as Livingston Dell
- Carl Reiner as Saul Bloom
- Elliott Gould as Reuben Tishkoff
- Shaobo Qin as Yen
As a follow-up to the successful Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve is still entertaining in its own way. It just happens to fall short by becoming overly complex and not using the ensemble cast as well as it could. It’s not a complete mess, but it could have been better.
Ever since pulling off their audacious major heist on casino owner Terry Benedict, Danny Ocean and the rest of his crew have been living apart and quietly with their takings. Unfortunately, this state of anonymous bliss is broken( which for smooth talking Danny has included reconciling with his wife Tess) when the angry and well-connected Benedict locates all of them and demands that they pay back the large sum they stole from him plus interest. Assembling the group, who are short of paying their halves of the money, they head to Amsterdam where they are told of a potential heist could take place. The crew has two weeks to repay the ruthless Terry or else things could be fatal for all involved. The hitch of the plan is that there is a gifted, arrogant cat burglar known as the Night Fox who beats them to it, forcing the crew to reconsider something else to steal. Striking an uneasy deal with the slimy Night Fox whose real name is Francois Toulour and a very rich man, the group plans to steal a Fabergé egg that should cover their debt to the vengeful Terry. Another obstacle comes in the shapely and sharp form of Isabel Lahiri, an extremely determined Europol detective who is put on the case and discovers that her former lover Rusty is part of the crew, causing various complications with putting the plan in motion and finally executing it. The question is will Danny and his cohorts be able to successfully do this heist and get the money before it is their necks on the chopping block?
A complex and labyrinthine plot is what makes Ocean’s Twelve a step down as it becomes overly clever and twists too much. And while Steven Soderbergh once again contributes his stylish sense of film making to the proceedings, he can’t make it flow together because of how convoluted the script becomes. Saying that, there are still some killer one-liners and hilarity, but in terms of pacing Twelve drags in comparison with its quick-footed predecessor. I have to compliment the visuals in Twelve which can’t be faulted and put the glamorous locales in glorious colours and mood, not to mention some slick costumes. There is something almost tired about Twelve, like because the first one did well they should make it a bit more complicated, yet this idea doesn’t work that well in theory. This is most apparent in the non-linear structure which works in the very beginning as the story is set up, but then descends into over confidence and confusion. And unlike the first movie that had quite a good bit of tension going on as the merry band of thieves were slipping past danger and averting trouble, Twelve is strangely devoid of the suspenseful heist we witnessed first time around. It is still an audacious heist that they must take part in, but the handling of it feels clumsy at best. A suitably cool score, accented with lively jazz and Rat Pack attitude at least gives Ocean’s Twelve hints of classy caper and adventure.
The starry cast is back with some new additions this time and while many are excellent, the way the script is done leaves many on the sidelines and doesn’t give some characters enough time to make an impression. As always, George Clooney is suave and devilish as main man Danny, who knows that the stakes are high in this heist and how the lives of everyone he cares about are on the line. The same goes for Brad Pitt as the lovable Rusty, whose relationship with Isabel begins to complicate matters that are already mounting. Matt Damon is a hoot as the overly eager and slightly naive Linus, who wants a central role this time and does show his skills to everyone when they get in a jam. Among the newer cast members, the beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones makes the biggest splash as detective Isabel. Somewhat icy and passionate in her dedication, her resolve gets tested by former lover Rusty coming into the case. Jones makes Isabel a really intelligent character who shares many sparks with Pitt’s Rusty as she tries to anticipate what he and the gang are up to. Julia Roberts has a smaller role as Tess this time around, but has some real humour especially when she is drawn in to help by taking on a disguise that is knowing and a funny in-joke. The rest of supporting cast in Twelve, although talented are given less to do in terms of material, which is very unfortunate because they all added something to the past film with their individual idiosyncrasies and tics. It’s only really Vincent Cassel as the supremely arrogant Night Fox that makes any real impression on the story out of the underused supporting cast.
So while there is obvious style and camaraderie with members of the cast, Ocean’s Twelve falls more than a little flat despite potential.
beetleypete said:
I had a feeling that this would follow the previous review. Another big ‘Caper’, and probably not as good as the first one, if ‘Capers’ are ever good…Despite Vincent Cassel being a real favourite of mine, please see the comment on Oceans 11, and repeat.
Cheers, V. Pete.
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beetleypete said:
Here’s Cassel in a good film, that you might loosely describe as a caper. Exciting stuff, and yet a bit silly, but in a good way.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118996/
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vinnieh said:
I wanna see that now and the fact that the lustrous Monica Bellucci features is a bonus.
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vinnieh said:
Love your wittiness Pete, always refreshing.
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beetleypete said:
I live to please, my good blogging friend!
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vinnieh said:
And you certainly please my good fellow.
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T. Mack said:
I agree that this film is not as sharp, witty or well-paced as the first. It tries hard, but simply falls short.
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vinnieh said:
The makings of a good movie were there, the execution was the thing that made it slip up.
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beetleypete said:
And here are some Cassel films that are really very good indeed.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113247/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228786/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411272/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0127536/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765443/
Load up your Netflix, and have a Cassel-fest!
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vinnieh said:
I’ve seen La Haine, I had to study it in film class when I was in college and it really made an impact on me. Mesrine sounds really fascinating and Elizabeth was a really amazing film indeed.
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beetleypete said:
Mesrine is in two parts. A true story, told very well, and he’s fabulous in it. I have got it on DVD, great stuff!
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vinnieh said:
Your stellar recommendations never cease to amaze me.
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beetleypete said:
I have seen some pretty good stuff over the years, along with a lot of shit too, unfortunately.
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vinnieh said:
You know this is the first time I’ve seen you swear in a comment Pete. You bad ass.
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beetleypete said:
It was only a ‘little’ swear though…
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vinnieh said:
You can swear all you like Pete.
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beetleypete said:
He was married to Bellucci until 2013. Jealous, or what?
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vinnieh said:
I am super jealous of him for that.
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jeffro517 said:
This series gets messier with each additional movie. While 11 is a fantastic remake of a classic, the other two films just don’t feel strong. Nice review!
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vinnieh said:
This was a messy one, I look forward to checking out the final film.
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Drew said:
It was a great idea to move the setting to Europe. That was ripe with heist potential but the film can’t capitalize on it. It becomes WAY too complicated and tries to be too clever for its own good. Ocean’s Eleven is a daunting movie to follow but I was hoping for something much better than this. Definitely a big step down from Ocean’s Eleven.
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vinnieh said:
Glad to see that we agree about the fact that the potential for greatness was squandered in the end result.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
This is too bad Vinnie. With a cast like this is should have been at least as good as the first one. I’m looking forward to your review of Ocean’s 13. Maybe this was a case of the dreaded “sequelitis”?
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vinnieh said:
I’ll get to Thirteen in a day or two, it has been a long time since my last viewing of it.
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abbiosbiston said:
One of those movies where the first one was good so they decided to just remake it with almost the identical plot.
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vinnieh said:
You summed it up perfectly Abbi.
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alexraphael said:
Saw the first one but wasn’t tempted to see this. Really cool to get your take on it. The Julia Roberts in joke annoyed a lot of people from what I remember.
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vinnieh said:
The first one is far superior in my view Alex, I’m gonna watch the third and final one soon.
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alexraphael said:
Will look out for your review.
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vinnieh said:
You’re a really cool follower Alex, your comments are always great.
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alexraphael said:
Same dude. And as I’ve said many times your comments section is my favourite of any other blogger.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, I love how entertaining my comment section gets, and saucy too.
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alexraphael said:
haha
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vinnieh said:
The saucy part is mainly down to me, I can be so ribald at times.
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Cavershamragu said:
It may be because I’m from Rome, but I really like the middle entry in the series. Its frenetic, jokey, seemingly unglued style seems closer to Soderbergh’s usual habitat than the others and I love the big reveals in the final 10 minutes. And the score is wonderful too. But I absolutely understand what it is not everybody’s favourite (just for the ‘Julia Roberts’ section, though it is perfectly doable really) and I don’t even think they are wrong – but this may be the one I enjoy the most all the same.
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vinnieh said:
I’ll admit it had panache and style, I just found it over indulgent. But I can see why you’d enjoy it and it’s great to hear a different point of view on it.
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HusbandAndHusband said:
What a cast! I actually only saw the first one because I heard some bad remarks regarding this film.
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vinnieh said:
This entry just doesn’t feel as focused as the first and it shows, despite the strong cast.
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HusbandAndHusband said:
Very true. It was probably rushed.
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vinnieh said:
Which is a shame because it had potential.
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