Ocean's Eleven

A heist film set in Las Vegas. Danny comes out on parole. The same day he finds his old partner and describes a plan. The target is the shared vault of three casinos. It is far underground, the money goes down at every change of hands, and on the night of a fight there is more than a hundred and fifty million dollars inside. The team is eleven people. A pickpocket, an explosives man, two brothers who drive, an acrobat, an electronics specialist, a con man, and the man who puts up the money. From there the film is a preparation. A mock-up of the vault, a card table, a funeral, a van and a power cut. There is also a personal matter. The owner of the casinos is with Danny's ex-wife, and Danny does not hide it from the team but makes it look unimportant. What the narrative is interested in is not money but tone: the film does not try to build tension; everyone is relaxed, funny and confident, and that is a deliberate choice. The real shape of the plan is kept from the audience. The narrative skips a section and goes back to explain it at the end. The last scene takes place beside a fountain and nobody speaks. The source is a film from 1960. That production was built around a group of singers, and this is a completely rewritten version. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould and Carl Reiner are in the cast. Steven Soderbergh directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes relaxed, elegant, clever heist films. Who it is not for: anyone looking for real tension; the narrative never takes the danger seriously.