Cool Caper Standout of the Year

By now, he is nearing legendary status, his stylistic feel all over every film he crafts. He is a genuine auteur firmly ensconced in mainstream Hollywood, embraced by audiences and critics alike. To say this is rare would be an understatement. He is, of course, Steven Soderbergh. His first sequel is the follow up to his most crowd-pleasing and fun film, 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven (it leaps and bounds above its 60s Rat Pack source film). Ocean’s Twelve amps up the humor and charisma of the original, keeping the excellent direction and quality ensemble cast.

”We’ve got to get Rusty a girl,” Julia Roberts’ Tess said at the end of the first film. Well, now Rusty gets one. The opening scene takes the audience back to a time shortly before the Las Vegas casino heist in the first film, as Brad Pitt’s Rusty gets romantic with Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Isabel in Rome. She’s apparently a detective who is tracking a thief. Rusty knows it’s him, so he bolts. Fast forward to the present and Zeta-Jones is tracking Ocean’s (George Clooney) heist team as they try to do a couple of jobs in Europe to get Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) his money back. Benedict tracked down each team member down, and the gang can’t get out of it. Their efforts are complicated by a rival thief, the Night Fox, played by French actor Vincent Cassel.

Screenwriter George Nolfi, who adapted his script Honor Among Thieves for this film, seems to have absorbed the original and expertly captured its tone. The small pleasures of the first; the hilariously bickering brothers played by Casey Affleck and Scott Caan, the winking touch of stars playing themselves, the stunning dashes of romance are magnified and added to the expected flashbacks, plot surprises, and easy rapport of Clooney and Pitt. Soderbergh likes to stage parallel scenes, play around with fonts for the title cards and show off the gorgeous locations around Europe. He also proves his adeptness with camera movement and transitions. Check out the sequence of Benedict’s confrontation with each thief at the film’s beginning, or the montage of Rusty and Isabel’s romance. Soderbergh is a filmmaker, indeed.

The only word to describe this film, like the original, is “cool.” The guys dress better because they’ve got the money and some of the members of the eleven have really been living big. There’s the same thief talk you heard in the original, elaborate plans, and of course the truth about the heist isn’t revealed until the end. Also, a couple of touches will have you going, “That is just cool!” The use of a hologram in part of one heist thrills, and Cassel does a sequence of acrobatics across a laser field as part of a theft that is amazing.

One thing I truly like here is the use of the actors and the progression of some of the relationships. Matt Damon’s Linus, for example, asks for a more integral role in the proceedings. He does get more screen time, especially as de facto leader for a brief period (I don’t want to give too much away!). He’s still the slightly bumbling apprentice, though; it took a sequel (Damon’s second exceptional one of the year) to show just how deft he is at creating a subtly comic but dynamic character. Pitt is just a magnificent movie star and he sort of becomes a bit more of the focus this time around. The always funny Bernie Mac should’ve been seen more but that’s the danger of an ensemble. Zeta-Jones is good, but fans will love that Topher Grace returns in another Hollywood satirizing cameo as himself. I don’t even want to spoil the surprise of what happens with Roberts’ character but it is just fun!

Ocean’s Twelve is just that: fun, funny, by turns romantic and exciting, a highly entertaining companion piece to the original. The ensemble cast and the nimble direction top off a film that I know will be at least one of the most enjoyable of the year. Clooney got the girl in the first, Pitt in the second; do we dare hope for a third in which Damon is next? I’d be in line.

Film Rating: êêêê1/2  (out of 5)