Ocean's Eleven

Ocean’s Eleven Essay Ocean’s Eleven, directed by Steven Soderbergh, is a 2001 film in which a group of eleven criminals take on the seemingly impossible challenge of robbing three Las Vegas casinos in one night. It is a remake of a 1960’s film of the same name, which starred Frank Sinatra as the main character, Danny Ocean. In this newer film, the starring role went to George Clooney, and the remaining members of the team he recruits are played by Brad Pitt, Bernie Mac, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner, Shaobo Qin, and Elliott Gould. The movie centers on Danny Ocean, who breaks parole immediately after getting released from prison in order to put together a team of eleven who each have unique sets
It had a great cast full of recognizable actors, which made it easier for me to get drawn into what was happening. My favorite part by far was the way they pulled off the heist, and the way it was filmed. When Danny is telling his team about the plan, the audience learns only the basics of where they need to go and what they need to do. None of the intricate details of the plan are given away on screen. It isn’t until the heist is taking place that each step of the plan is slowly revealed as it happens. The more progress that is made, the more complicated the endeavor seems, and the more the audience is left wondering what could possibly happen next. I personally kept expecting them to fail at some point, and was certain something had to go wrong, but expectations just kept being incorrect. The most mind-blowing moment for me was the revelation that the video feed Terry Benedict was seeing of his vault being robbed was a previously filmed tape, and that the SWAT team he’d called in to stop the robbers were actually the robbers themselves, who proceeded to carry the money straight out of the casino without being stopped. Earlier in the movie, Ocean says that they’ll need to create a replica of the vault, but the audience is led to believe that this is just for the purpose of practicing the theft. It isn’t until this moment that the audience realizes they’ve been fooled, and that a vital part of the plan is only just now being
It fits the gangster film in the sense that it follows a group of criminals, one of whom recently spent time in prison, who are used to committing crimes regularly and do so with little to no regret. Also, these criminals are mostly driven by the motive of the money that they will get for their crimes. However, it doesn’t have the excessive violence that is so common to gangster films, such as gunfights, bloodiness, and death, nor do any drugs come into play. The movie could almost be classified as comedy, as the movie remains lighthearted and funny almost the whole way through. Instead of being called a gangster film, it could be more broadly referred to as a crime film, as it centers on criminals but those criminals are not necessarily