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My one word review of "Ocean's Eleven": Lackluster.
This film was placed on autopilot almost as soon as you see Casey Affleck's character's Radio-Controlled "Stomper Bully" race/truck get stomped on by its inspiration, a real race/truck during a mini-race.
I think the problem with this film is the serious lack of character development, it really felt like a video game adaptation in some respects. I didn't really care about any of the characters in this film. Soderbergh should've filmed this film in a documentary style because that's about as close it gets to the subject matter, at arm's length. I suppose part of the problem is having such a huge "team" and trying to give at least a bit of meat to the main stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts.
The actual heist was ho-hum, ran like clockwork (you really need more things to go wrong, in the manner that actually affects the heist and they have to scramble to make it work, there were some small things go wrong, but nothing that wasn't easily overcome, and heighten the suspense), at least in the recent film "The Score" there was more suspense for the audience to get hooked into and the outcome was somewhat in doubt.
For a second, I had wondered if I'd stepped into Godfather IV when Andy Garcia graces the screen, and his character's "background" in handling thieves of the casinos that he runs is rolled out for the audience.
Perhaps it's the nature of the thieves, but there was some serious low-energy acting in this film. I felt like they were totally smirking underneath while they were phoning in their performances and fleecing the audience of their movie ticket money. It parallels the heist itself in some respects.
I guess I expected more out of Soderbergh, but it seemed to be a "breather" film for him, something to shoot and hang out with some high profile actors/stars.
The only really minimally funny scene is when Brad Pitt's character is teaching "real" Hollywood actors how to play poker, and among the real actors were Joshua Jackson, Holly Combs, Tofer (dude on "That 70's show), and some other young actors.
I give the film 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.
PatCave; HT Pix;Gear;DIY Projects;DVDs; LDs
This film was placed on autopilot almost as soon as you see Casey Affleck's character's Radio-Controlled "Stomper Bully" race/truck get stomped on by its inspiration, a real race/truck during a mini-race.
I think the problem with this film is the serious lack of character development, it really felt like a video game adaptation in some respects. I didn't really care about any of the characters in this film. Soderbergh should've filmed this film in a documentary style because that's about as close it gets to the subject matter, at arm's length. I suppose part of the problem is having such a huge "team" and trying to give at least a bit of meat to the main stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts.
The actual heist was ho-hum, ran like clockwork (you really need more things to go wrong, in the manner that actually affects the heist and they have to scramble to make it work, there were some small things go wrong, but nothing that wasn't easily overcome, and heighten the suspense), at least in the recent film "The Score" there was more suspense for the audience to get hooked into and the outcome was somewhat in doubt.
For a second, I had wondered if I'd stepped into Godfather IV when Andy Garcia graces the screen, and his character's "background" in handling thieves of the casinos that he runs is rolled out for the audience.
Perhaps it's the nature of the thieves, but there was some serious low-energy acting in this film. I felt like they were totally smirking underneath while they were phoning in their performances and fleecing the audience of their movie ticket money. It parallels the heist itself in some respects.
I guess I expected more out of Soderbergh, but it seemed to be a "breather" film for him, something to shoot and hang out with some high profile actors/stars.
The only really minimally funny scene is when Brad Pitt's character is teaching "real" Hollywood actors how to play poker, and among the real actors were Joshua Jackson, Holly Combs, Tofer (dude on "That 70's show), and some other young actors.
I give the film 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.
PatCave; HT Pix;Gear;DIY Projects;DVDs; LDs
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