Julia Roberts is sweetly restrained in the pivot role of the woman contended for by con (George Clooney) and casino owner (Andy Garcia).
Indeed, what's being contended for isn't money, but a principle-that old movie idea that a woman ought to be with a man who loves her more than he loves money. Steven Soderbergh's Las Vegas is busy but weirdly serene the director's customary use of ambient noise and available light makes the interior of the targeted Bellagio casino look like the background for romance, instead of a heist caper. And in all three categories, Ocean's Eleven stands out. On the whole, you don't expect a remake to have any aesthetics of its own, any relaxation or any sense that it was anything but a chore to make.
Ocean's Eleven, a modern version of Ocean's 11 (1960), the ultimate Rat Pack movie, tries to recapture that era's laconic style. IN THE BEGINNING was Bogart, who first banded together the Rat Pack, whose heroic drinking and indifference symbolized a brief patch of jet-age elegance. Steven Soderbergh's remake of 'Ocean's 11' only hints at an era long lost Shades of the Past: George Clooney and Brad Pitt try to evoke the swinging early '60s in 'Ocean's Eleven.'
