A GUILTY PLEASURE (LIGHT ON THE PLEASURE)

By: B -- 12/22/04

For the record, I enjoyed the detached smugness shown by the characters in Ocean’s 11. I can understand an opinion to the contrary, but I always felt it gave the film a cool, classic tone. Though the sequel, Ocean’s 12, is filled with the same aloof attitude, the coolness factor is sadly lacking. Maybe it tried too hard, maybe the plot was too complex for the jokester mood, but Ocean’s 12 just doesn’t come off as slick as its predecessor.

The plot of Ocean’s 12 sounds simple: the original gang is forced to return the stolen money (plus interest) to pay back casino owner Terry Benedict. But where 11 quickly jumped into the proposed heist, the sequel takes much more time to get there. Ocean’s 12 finds the original gang in Amsterdam with the duty of raising $192 million in 14 short days. Catherine Zeta-Jones is also involved, playing a law enforcement official trying to foil their heist before they get started.

Roughly half the movie is spent showing the team trying to think of a new heist attempt, each idea silly, unsuccessful and, sadly, unfunny. When the story finally gets moving, it is so jumbled and complex, with so many characters and side-stories, it’s nearly impossible to keep up.

Thankfully, director Steven Soderbergh doesn’t place a premium on keeping up with the plot. Being flashy carries the most importance, resulting in a fun but shallow film. Example: there is a scene near the end of the movie when Julia Roberts’ character Tess is forced to portray – whaaaaa? – Julia Roberts! It’s funny, no doubt, but also a sign that this was a complete fuck-around movie. The actors are all obviously having a blast (Matt Damon is hilarious as Linus), but I tend to enjoy movies that care more about the audience having fun.

Ocean’s 11 was the film equivalent of an easygoing supermodel – slick and shallow yet pleasing in every way. The sequel represents the supermodel trying to be something she’s not: a deep thinker. Still not bad to look at, but fairly unsatisfying nonetheless.

That being said, Ocean’s 12 wasn’t unwatchable for even a minute; it swims along agreeably through its entirety. Where is does lose points is on the way out of the theatre, when the feeling becomes obvious: the joke wasn’t necessarily on Benedict, and it wasn’t necessarily on the others who had their money stolen… the joke was on the viewer. We thought we were getting a similar film to its predecessor, but were given something closer to a spoof. A decent rental.

POP RATING: 7

CRITICAL RATING: 4

B'S RATING: 5.5

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