‘Twelve’ better than ‘Eleven’
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, December 9, 2004
A breezy upgrade over the 2001 caper picture “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Ocean’s Twelve” gathers the original cast members for another guiltless romp – this time through Europe.
“Eleven” was a remake, more or less, of a Rat Pack heist movie set in Las Vegas. The Strip has been left behind in “Twelve,” as the conspirators have dispersed throughout the world, each taking his share of $160 million.
| “Ocean’s Twelve” HHH
It’s all fun: The thieving gang from “Ocean’s Eleven” returns, this time in Europe, in an outing breezier than the first. George Clooney is still the ringleader, but he cedes most of the screen time to Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Rated: PG-13 rating is for language. Now showing: tk “Ocean’s Twelve” HHH It’s all fun: The thieving gang from “Ocean’s Eleven” returns, this time in Europe, in an outing breezier than the first. George Clooney is still the ringleader, but he cedes most of the screen time to Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Rated: PG-13 rating is for language. Now showing: Alderwood, Everett 9, Galaxy, Marysville, Mountlake, Stanwood, Metro, Oak Tree, Pacific Place, Woodinville, Cascade. |
The problem is, they’ve been found. The sleazy businessman (Andy Garcia) they ripped off tracks them all down and demands his money back, with interest. They have two weeks to deliver.
Curiously, they agree. This is a plot point that never quite goes away: Why don’t they vanish again? Or go after the guy? Instead, they all jet off to Amsterdam and begin scheming ways to steal another couple hundred million.
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is ringleader once again. Remarried now to Tess (Julia Roberts), he dreams up plans to swipe a Faberge egg from a Rome museum.
The movie’s most surprising stroke is that Clooney has modestly handed over the starring role to his second in command. That would be Brad Pitt, as Rusty Ryan, whose past romance with a Europol detective (Catherine Zeta-Jones) comes back to haunt the gang’s efforts.
Zeta-Jones, looking very 1960s “Avengers,” is a fitting addition to the cast. And her scenes with Pitt pull the movie toward that couple – Clooney, frankly, doesn’t have much to do.
Neither does Matt Damon, but at least that’s one of the jokes. His character keeps asking Danny and Rusty for more responsibility.
Returning are Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould and Bernie Mac (who really gets limited screen time). French actor Vincent Cassel does his reptilian thing as a master thief, Robbie Coltrane and Eddie Izzard have cameos, and there are a few surprise appearances.
Director Steven Soderbergh returns, too, and gives the movie a lilting, completely unserious tone. One scene between Pitt and Zeta-Jones reminds you of how good Soderbergh can be when he concentrates on man-woman stuff, but then we slip quickly back into frolic. Soderbergh’s at his best when he’s picking up oddball little exchanges, like anytime Affleck and Caan riff on each other, or Pitt and Clooney boozily watching “Happy Days” in Italian.
The film cruises into giddy territory when Tess joins the Rome crew and must masquerade as a famous movie star she happens to resemble. This is a very loopy sequence, all the better for feeling made up on the spot.
The movie isn’t faintly believable, but it doesn’t especially mean to be. By the way, nobody ever mentions that stealing might be wrong. In this jaunty escapist world, it isn’t relevant.
