Steven Soderbergh, 2004
8.0
this movie came out on video last week? it feels like it's been out for more than that (was the theatrical release last december? i forget). anyway. being a Zip member i haven't been into new releases for a while so today i went to the video store to pick up some cool new releases. imagine my surprise, though, when i started reading some reviews for this and saw that many of them said this was a pale successor to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. maybe they'd really let themselves go and had been lazy on the sequel. who knows. i was hoping Soderbergh hadn't dropped the ball on this one. but not a minute or two after i hit play did i immediately fall back into the magic that made the remake such a joy to watch. what struck me first was Matt Damon. i don't even remember his character from the first film but here he carries off the nervous character like a pro (and Soderbergh uses him to carry us into the movie). i'll say it again, Matt Damon is one of our most underrated actors working today. the second thing that hit me was Catherine Zeta-Jones. i've never been a fan of hers (to say the least; i never understood the fascination), but here she gives a rather riveting and grounded performance. the boys were able to (effortlessly, it seems) bring back the same charm and wit of the first film/remake, and Steven Soderbergh even manages to make the film feel like one of his small indie pictures -- despite the insane starpower and cool european locations. the film's got such an ease and elegance to it that's very much unique to this crew. and of course, how could i forget David Holmes' amazing soundtrack? it keeps things light and, along with the retro style of editing, keeps things moving along quite nicely. the film, though not necessarily in a bad way, relies more on the characters this time around than on the heists. or maybe that's just the way it comes off. but here the heists are less grandiose and breathtaking than the Bellagio job from the first film. i didn't mind because i enjoyed the actors' performances tremendously (and Soderbergh plans it out so everyone gets their time to shine), it's just an observation. sadly, though, before the end credits get a chance to roll, the film starts unraveling at an alarming rate -- scenes are left to play out well after their welcome's worn out (Julia) and there are a couple of frivolous explanations of the aforementioned heists, which i so did not care for after-the-fact. of course it diminished the rest of the experience a bit for me, but it wasn't enough to sink the effort put into the film, especially the entire first half, which is so superbly handled, with so much flair and elegance by everyone involved, that it makes it almost impossible not to enjoy. recommended to anyone who were charmed by the first film.
Posted by Anonymous | 11:44 PM
