In sports, all-star games are a celebration of achievements during the year, where high-profile athletes come together to participate in a semblance of what they normally do for a living, albeit more for fun and the accompanying bonus paycheck than in being completely consumed by the desire to succeed.
In the movie industry, the equivalent are the fluff films featuring all-star, ensemble casts where the interest similarly is in having fun making a film with no real intent on being anything other than an entertaining diversion. In 2001, the movie coach of the year was Steven Soderbergh who followed his important "message" films -- "Traffic" and "Erin Brockovich" -- with his remake of the 1960 "rat pack" flick, "Ocean's Eleven."
The result, while nothing tremendous from an artistic standpoint (although it had artsy flourishes), was a hip, entertaining, enjoyable and seemingly effortless heist pic that only got better with repeat viewings. Its ending, of course, coupled with the fact that it made a boatload of cash, paved the way for the inevitable and completely unnecessary sequel.
All of which brings us to "Ocean's Twelve," the film that has my pick for one of the best tag lines of the year, "Twelve is the new eleven." Reuniting most of the cast and crew from the first film with a few notable additions, the effort follows its predecessor in wanting to be a "sit back, kick your shoes off and enjoy the show" type of film.
While that's not terribly difficult to do and the film features what's arguably the best ensemble grouping since, well, the last picture, the effort feels a bit more labored than the first time around. It also lacks the novelty (despite the original being a remake) of meeting the characters for the first time, seeing their assembly and enjoying their planning and execution of the seemingly impossible heist. Add in the fact that this sequel comes off as a bit bloated, occasionally loses its momentum, and seems conscious of its own hipness, and the result is that it's not quite as much fun at the first time around.
To continue with the sports analogy, the players all seem prepared to deliver their best, but the field conditions are not exactly ideal and certainly aren't optimized to allow for that. And most of those problems can be traced back to Soderbergh and particularly the script by George Nolfi ("Timeline"). While the film has its moments where it matches the original in terms of being hip, cool and entertaining, the plot isn't as tight, good or interesting as the original.
At 130 some minutes, the film is simply too long and the various separate heist bits here don't match the main big one from the first film. Rather than knocking off three casino vaults in one night while circumventing the owner's attempts at stopping them, we have that same owner finding but then giving them two weeks to repay his money plus interest.
While that provides some funny dialogue about the trappings of "borrowing" money at high rates, it results in some smaller scale heists designed to generate some of that needed cash. Alas, they lack the scope and complications that made the first so much of a delight to behold. Soderbergh then ends up pretty much placing Andy Garcia's casino operator character aside -- thus loosing the potential for some fun complications -- in favor of two new characters.
One is an egotistical and competitive European thief who's jealous of the title character being named the best criminal in the world. Accordingly, he's driven to best him, and our enjoyment is supposed to be in watching Ocean and his crew outsmart him. There's some potential there and Vincent Cassel ("Birthday Girl," "Brotherhood of the Wolf") is decent in the role, but the somewhat flat script does him no favors and the substitution for Garcia thus seems like a bad idea.
The second character arrives in the form of Catherine Zeta-Jones ("The Terminal," "Intolerable Cruelty") whose part is to play "the law." The fact that she had a romantic past with the charming rogue character played by Brad Pitt ("Troy," "Spy Game") generates more conflict and some humor (particularly in regards to the other characters' reaction upon learning of that past relationship).
In fact, the film works better when it's playing down the comedy lines rather than the heist ones. Some of that stems from our knowledge of the characters, their actions and attitudes, and their interaction with others.
The best, however, which some might feel is a bit too cute and contrived, involves the reluctant character played by Julia Roberts ("Closer," "Mona Lisa Smile") being called upon to participate in a con. The circular celebrity element and a guest appearance by another big name star provides for some decent laughs, even if the moment feels a bit incongruous with the rest of the picture.
As was the case the first time around, the large cast creates the side effect of some characters getting the short shrift when it comes to screen time. While George Clooney ("Intolerable Cruelty," "Solaris") and a terrific Matt Damon ("The Bourne Supremacy," "Stuck on You") get some significant chunks, others including the likes of Bernie Mac ("Mr. 3000," "Bad Santa"), Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda," "After the Sunset") Elliot Gould ("MASH," "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice") and many of the others seemingly barely appear. Short of making a three-hour version of the film (that thankfully didn't occur), there's little that can be done about that. Yet, it feels more noticeable here than before.
Had the first film not existed, this effort might seem more fun. Yet, in direct comparison, it doesn't fare as favorably. While it's not difficult to watch, has some rather fun moments, and will likely have its share of big admirers, it's simply not as good as its predecessor. "Ocean's Twelve" rates as a 5.5 out of 10.
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