First of all, the movie's subtler than I recall it being. A lot is conveyed with pauses and looks rather than overt dialogue. That requires a good script and actors with decent comedic timing, and they managed both, for the most part.
Secondly, there's really a lot less overt humor compared to today's comedies. There's very few pratfalls, no bodily fluids, none of the excessive raunchiness one might get from The Hangover or Bridesmaids. True, they have the brothers from Utah and their constant bickering, but they don't overplay that card, and the scene where they drive Linus to distraction is artfully directed. The humor here is understated, and I like it that way.
Something else that I noticed was that despite only a few of the characters getting all that much screen time (which is inevitable when you've got eleven people on Danny's team, plus Benedict, plus Tess), the characters are sharply defined. Benedict is cold and dangerous, Danny is smooth and charming, Rusty is mysterious and witty, Linus is self-conscious and inexperienced. And so on, and so forth. Granted, no one character is allowed time to show much in the way of depth beyond Danny pining for Tess, but heist films like the Ocean's movies really aren't about character depth, they're about the setup and execution of the heist.
So how was the heist? Not bad, actually. Oh, there are a few holes. The "pinch" device they use to generate the EMP doesn't actually exist. I don't think there was enough time for them to get all the loot out the way they showed it. Also, Terry should have realized that there was no way for Tess to have seen his final confrontation with Danny unless someone had hacked his security systems, and since the logical people to have done that were the thieves he should have known that Danny was in on the robbery then and there. And since, as a corrupt murderous sort, he shouldn't have been concerned with something like "proof" before beating the truth out of Ocean. Also, if the point of having Yen in the vault was so that he could jump around and not touch the floor, which makes it seem a bit odd when they just blow the door up and walk in afterwards. Why didn't the alarm go off then?
Nevertheless, it still works. The timing, the convolutions in the plan, the twists and turns, they're all pretty cool. What concerns I have with the execution only become obvious in retrospect after repeated viewings. During the film itself, one is caught up in the action and don't think about the details, you're more interested in what happens next. Which is as it should be. Ocean's Eleven isn't the kind of tense drama where a hole in your suspension of disbelief kills the film for you the way it might, say, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The scenario in Ocean's is inherently manufactured, and we all know that nothing about it really reflects reality. The movie is about style and flash, and on those levels it succeeds.
This would be a good time, I suppose, to compare the Clooney Ocean's Eleven to the Frank Sinatra Ocean's Eleven. The problem is that I've never seen the Sinatra version, so I haven't got any basis for comparison. Maybe I'll watch that one after I finish doing Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen.
Overall, then, Ocean's Eleven was a fine version of a light heist film. It was a one and film that accomplished what it set out to do. It also was pretty clearly never intended to have a sequel. So what would happen when they did one anyway? Find out next time when I review in retrospect Ocean's Twelve.
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