Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Written by George Nolfi
Directed by Steven Soderberg

First, let me say, if you haven't seen the first movie, you shouldn't be watching this one. After that, just for reference, the original eleven are: Danny Ocean (Clooney), Rusty Ryan (Pitt), Virgil Malloy (Casey Affleck), Turk Malloy (Scott Caan), Yen (Shaobo Qin), Frank (Bernie Mac), Basher (Don Cheadle), Livingston (Eddie Jemison), Reuben (Elliot Gould), Saul (Carl Reiner), and Linus (Matt Damon). In the first film, a remake, they stole an incredible amount of money, some $150 million from Ocean's rival, Terry Benedict's (Andy Garcia) casino, The Bellagio. In the beginning of the film, we are introduced first to Rusty's ex-girlfriend Isabel (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and then to Benedict finding each of the original 11, and giving them an ultimatum, give him his money back, plus interest, or die. Did I mention Isabel is an international police agent that is determined to track down Rusty and his buds, half out of spite for his leaving her, and half out of professional interest?

So Ocean and crew go back to work, attempting to do a bunch of different jobs in order to gain the money they need to pay Benedict back, only to be thwarted by a voracious new thief, who goes by the name The Night Fox (Vincent Cassel).

From here the thieves meet up with the Night Fox, and since he is born into wealth, he steals merely for the fun of it. Ocean proposes they make a game of stealing a prized item, a fabrege egg, which Rusty supposes will be literally impossible to steal. The deal is if the Ocean crew wins, they get the egg and The Night Fox pays their debt to Benedict. If not...well, they're dead anyway. So the second half of the movie becomes the intricate, confusing plot to steal the egg, which includes a large distraction and a hologram devised by their buddy Roman (Eddie Izzard), to aid them in stealing the egg from a heavily guarded museum, during business hours no less.

The twists and turns of the actual heist are the meat of the plot, and giving it away would ruin the fun of watching an Ocean's movie. I loved the first half of this film, it contains cinematography and stylish filmmaking that belongs to the cinema verite movement of the 70's, and the technical gloss of today. The set ups for the characters being found by Benedict serve only to show what the characters have been up to, and what they are currently up against in the form of the Night Fox. It is fun to watch them operate, especially when they are thwarted, because you know in the end there is going to be some wool pulled over certain eyes, that will result in the final reveal of the heist.

The fun of the movie however, is thrown off slightly in the second half I believe, mainly due to a few too many in-jokes and winking asides. Yes, these coy references to the careers and mega-stardom of many of the actors involved can be hilarious at times, but in the last part of this film, the sequence with Bruce Willis and Tess (Julia Roberts), where Tess is dressed up to look like Julia Roberts (....) muddle the existential nature of the characters involved. The winking asides become ham fisted attempts to play on the names of the actors involved. I feel this detracts from the great first half, which neatly wraps up a lot of these loose ends. Of course, there is the nature of the relationship between Rusty and Isabel to be wrapped up, which inevitably comes to involve her professional thief father.

Is this a great film? Hardly. Like the movie before it though, the high calibur actors and the convoluted nature of the plot, and its improbable conclusion are all part of the charm. This is a movie that is merely an exercise in skill and style, made purely to entertain, and to lengthen the limits of what a heist movie can include. It succeeds on that level, although I feel it has more negatives in the second half than the first Ocean's movie. Not great, but it's passable entertainment, a fun way to kill 2 hours and see a heightened heist experience.

7.7/10