December 9-16, 2004

movies

Six of One

too cool for school: George Clooney and Brad Pitt discuss how great they look.

Ocean's Twelve kids its own fluff, but who laughs last?

by Sam Adams

Was there any danger audiences would take Ocean's Twelve too seriously? The sequel to a flyweight remake, Steven Soderbergh's second go-round arrives with no greater expectation than that it approximate its predecessor's chunk of the box office. It's not as if the first movie left many unanswered questions—just the possibility of more boyish fun and movie-star camaraderie.

Given the chance to take it easy, Soderbergh and his slightly expanded cast do just that, tossing off one-liners and in-jokes as if they're killing time between poker games. This despite the fact that death hangs imminently over their heads. But if Andy Garcia's casino boss has threatened to bury all 11 of the first movie's thieves unless they return his $160 million, with interest, there's no reason that should stop them cracking wise, even as their two-week deadline ticks rapidly away.

Apart from a few maudlin interludes, most involving Catherine Zeta-Jones' newly assigned Europol detective, the film's resolute determination not to take itself seriously is its most charming asset. When they run down techniques for their various heists, the team sounds like a room full of comedy writers trying to crack each other up: Perhaps a "lost in translation" or a "hell in a handbasket?" If only they had time to train a cat.

If movies could run on atmosphere, Ocean's Twelve would be firing on all cylinders. But even the Rat Pack's glamour wore thin over six reels, and if you're hoping to get by on nothing but ambient coolness, it's not wise to lock up Bernie Mac for most of the movie. With gliding zooms and grainy stock, Soderbergh does his best to loosen things up a la Altman, but Elliott Gould and a few film references can't turn Ocean's Twelve into The Long Goodbye.

When The Limey followed Out of Sight, it seemed Soderbergh might be on his way to developing his own brand of inventive genre storytelling, but his movies since have been split between aggressively substanceless entertainments and self-conscious art-house fare, as if there were no way to reconcile the two. Soderbergh has shown he has the skill, but he evidently lacks the will.

Ocean's Twelve Directed by Steven Soderbergh A Warner Bros. release Opens Friday at area theaters