Ocean’s Eleven

From the  (December 3, 2001). — J.R.

A pretty good caper comedy for 11-year-old boys — heist thriller would make it sound too ambitious — this remake of the 1960 Rat Pack movie replaces the Rat Pack with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Casey Affleck, Elliott Gould, and Carl Reiner, among others. (And since it’s about stealing $150 million from three casinos, it’s once again set in Las Vegas.) As a serviceable empty-headed entertainment, possibly even more sexist than the original (with Julia Roberts replacing Angie Dickinson as the female object — she can’t exactly be considered a character), it consolidates Steven Soderbergh’s cultivated new profile as a compliant and competent industry hack, which he’s been working overtime to flesh out in such projects as Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich, and Traffic. Ted Griffin is credited with rewriting the original multihanded script. 122 min. (JR) Read more