Dir: Stephen Soderbergh. Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Matt Damon, Elliot Gould, Julia Roberts.
No director has ever sold out quite like Stephen Soderbergh did. The indie darling of the early nineties, Sex Lies and Videotape, Kafka, King of the Hill and The Underneath all proved how talented and intelligent a director he was. But then, presumably due to a rather subdued response to the last three films, he chose to buy in the studio system, big time.
Out of Sight was an exercise in cool, and extremely watchable, as was The Limey, but from that point on it’s all been downhill. Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Full Frontal, Solaris, they may have been well made, but then they could have been made by anyone. Stylistically empty and ultimately unfulfilling, all have been a huge waste of his talent. But none were as weak as Ocean’s 11. A film that thought itself to be utterly cool because of it’s (mostly) all star cast, Soderbergh made, oh, just a couple of mistakes – it wasn’t cool in the slightest, it lacked substance of any kind, and the heist the film centred around was dull and of the kind you’ve seen countless times before.
So, as you may imagine, I had absolutely no interest in seeing the sequel. More than that, I truly didn’t want too. But on a cloudy and wet Friday afternoon a friend all but forced me too. And…it’s not that bad. Ocean’s 12 is a huge improvement on the original, it’s plot flits around all over the place to enjoyable effect,
Yes, there are countless flaws, Julia Robert’s character is ridiculously irritating, and the scene where she has to pretend to be the real Julia Roberts to pull off a con is quite possibly the most cringeworthy moment filmed in the past ten years. Too many of the supporting cast have absolutely nothing to do (why Bernie Mac and Don Cheadle agreed to do it is beyond me considering how little they contribute to the film), and Soderbergh’s far too indulgent with his main cast, allowing too many scenes where they sit around and talk as if it’s fascinating material, when it’s oh so not. The use of technology which just doesn’t exist for one of the heists is the worst thing though, it destroys the reality of the piece completely. Not that that was one of the film’s strong points in the first place, but still, it’s an idiotic decision.
So if you were expecting a return to form from Soderbergh you’ll be disappointed, if you’re wanting to watch a movie you’ll fall in love with and watch time and time again you’ll walk away shaking your head, but if you go in with no expectations at all, then you’ll like it a fair bit. Yep, it’s damning with faint praise time again I’m afraid, but at least it’s no worse than this. Which makes for a vaguely pleasant change.
Alex Finch.
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