Jack Bennett Danny Ocean calls on old buddies from his World War II unit to pull off a heist on five casinos in Las Vegas at the same time on New Year's Eve. As the crew attempt the perfect robbery, a series of events and the snooping of a former gangster threaten to thwart their carefully laid plan.It seems not everyone is even aware that the 2001 Ocean's 11 is a remake of a Rat Pack caper from before man lands on the moon. Indeed a line of dialogue really dates the film: when Danny Ocean (played by Frank Sinatra) is asked why no-one's done the heist before if it's so fool-proof, he responds with "Same reason nobody's gone to the moon yet - no equipment. But we're equipped." The suave dialogue between the huge cast pops with 1960s swing culture whether it's through a sassy one-liner, an obvious set-up leading to a rewarding pay-off, or a smarts-riddle back and forth between men in sharp suits and slicked hairstyles.Naturally for a film from this era, there are more than a couple of moments which should be taken with a hefty pinch of feminist salt. In one scene, two of the gang are receiving massages and it's heavily suggested the two women are open to the idea of impromptu prostitution. In another, Sinatra tempts his estranged wife to get back together with him by sliding his hotel room key down the front of her dress. Finally, Dean Martin distracts an incredibly drunk women from heist activities by making advances on her. So yeah, not exactly up to 2018 post-Weinstein standards.The plot lurches from one conversation to the next and never really feels like it's going anywhere until suddenly they're undercover in the casinos spraying doors with invisible glow in the dark paint and rigging fuse boxes in preparation for the big one. Before you realise it, the lights have gone out and they're stuffing bags with cash. The heist itself is over in a matter of moments and the rest of the film focuses on the gang's attempts to avoid suspicions of a retired gangster hired by the casino bosses to get their money back (played by Cesar Romero, the man who would go on to play the Joker in the Batman TV series). He unsurprisingly turns the screw on the gang by blackmailing them for half their loot in return for his silence.The 'shocking twist' ending you're promised on the back of the DVD case was so predictable that I even joked "what if this happens?" - little did I know that I'd unintentionally ruined the surprise. As good as this film is, the remake is superior; a better use of the cast, a better script and a better reveal all contribute to a more enjoyable cinematic experience. What you get here is a slice of classic cool (and it is cool) with some great moments but an unsatisfying ending.Best Quote: *picking up the hotel room phone* "Hello, this is a recording. You've dialled the right number - now hang up and don't do it again!"

thebrshaw The 2001 version of Ocean's Eleven is one of my personal favorite movies. I had put off seeing it for a while because I tend to be a bit biased against remakes. But after seeing and liking it, I was eager to see the film it was based on. I don't really know what I expected going in to see the 1960 version, but it definitely wasn't what it turned out to be. Frankly, the remake far surpasses the original. I've talked to some people about it and they have said that it is unfair to compare the two films. If you can't compare an original film to its remake, then there is something seriously wrong.The two films bear little semblance to each other, even in terms of plot. In this movie, the protagonists all conspire to rob five Las Vegas casinos at the same time. Believe it or not, this is far less complicated than the plot of the remake. The idea here is that they cut the power to Vegas, enter the casinos, take the money, and leave. That's it. It's almost an hour before they even start planning the heist, and the sequence itself lasts only about five or ten minutes. Even if the thieves in the remake targeted only one casino, the heist serves as that movie's centerpiece; in the original, it feels like an afterthought. And there's nothing really interesting about how it's done. Some gimmicks are introduced, but they don't play any major role in the long run. For example, the Eleven put infrared paint of some kind around the casinos so they can easily navigate it in the dark. Considering how small the casinos appear to be, it seems like a flashlight would have sufficed.Another problem with hitting five casinos is that the Eleven are split up into five teams. In other words, we don't really get to know them very much. In the remake, every character had some kind of unique personality or ability. In this version, only a handful of the Eleven are memorable in any way. Peter Lawford plays a ne'er-do-well wealthy mama's boy. Richard Conte plays a Walter White-type who wants to provide for his family in the aftermath of his impending death. But that's pretty much it. When the heist is being planned, the arrival of a cowboy named Jackson is made a big deal of. The guy is then completely dropped from the story and makes no further appearances of note. Does anyone honestly remember the nuances of Henry Silva's character? How about Buddy Lester--how did he distinguish himself from the other actors? Characters should be the crux of a film like this--it's kind of implied in the title, after all.The movie is also incredibly dated. Most of the "humor" is years past its sell-by date--kind of like the actors. Most of the actors in this film are in their 40s; by modern standards, they look at least 55. Despite this, they are constantly surrounded by horny women who ogle and suck up to the main cast, something that is only in the movie to show how attractive its main characters supposedly are. Frank Sinatra, who also looks far beyond his 44 years, is cheating on his wife with a dissatisfied mistress. The subplot is only mentioned a couple of times before being quickly discarded; it only seems to exist to show that Ocean is a philanderer and therefore cool by the movie's standards. The portrayal of women in this movie was silly in 1960 and is arguably the funniest thing about it now, even if it's unintentional. Most of the actors aren't given any kind of challenging material, so trying to grade their acting is futile; it doesn't offer anything memorable good or bad. But Akim Tamiroff does have something to work with: he plays the perpetually nervous man organizing the heist. He's probably the worst actor I've ever seen. Maybe he just couldn't work with the script, but he bugs his eyes out at every opportunity and whoops and hollers like a rabid chihuahua at the slightest provocation.By the end of it all I was left wondering what the point had been. A lot of questions remained unanswered. Why did Richard Conte's character die in the middle of the heist after experiencing no symptoms in the few hours prior? What's going to happen between Danny and his wife, especially considering Angie Dickinson is given such high billing? Why did they choose to leave all the money in the garbage, where it could have been found by the police or lost? Why did they hide the money from Santos in the coffin, where it could have easily been discovered by church staff? Why are nubile 20-year-old girls mindlessly throwing themselves at 40+ men, with faces like road maps of Manhattan, within seconds of meeting them? I really wanted to like this movie. The remake is one of my favorites and I was hoping this could match it. It made me realize, however, why remakes should exist: to take sub par movies with interesting premises and make them actually deliver. This is the perfect example of that.

classicsoncall The writing and the technical stuff make the 2001 do-over a better and flashier movie to watch, but you can't beat the original for the star quality - Sinatra, Dino, Sammy Jr., Lawford, Bishop, Angie - all the original Rat Packers in full glory. It's an OK movie, but even as a caper flick, the emphasis is more on the real-life camaraderie of the players than on the story itself. My summary line pretty much tells the story; all these guys were in a class by themselves at the top of the heap in Hollywood and the entertainment industry of the era.It was kind of interesting to catch the names of the headliners appearing at the five casinos targeted for the big heist in the story. None of them, except maybe for Danny Thomas and Red Skelton, were as big as the principals in the flick. And since I mention Skelton, his cameo was written very poorly I thought. He was made out to be a boorish dolt and a slug when his real persona was just the opposite. What a wasted moment.Now if you think about the story to any degree, a whole lot of things don't make much sense. How for example, did Dean Martin show up as a lounge act at one of the casinos? That was never explained unless I missed it. The back and forth intrusions by Richard Conte's character into secure areas to rig the wiring at the various showplaces relied on a lot of coincidental timing with his co-conspirators and nothing really ever interrupted his progress. Nothing ever goes that smooth. And then, as far as blowing the whole thing with the money in the coffin gimmick, since when does a coffin get cremated along with the body? If anything, that could have been written with Cesar Romero and the undertaker figuring things out and splitting the big pot between them.But in the end, how much of that really matters? This was the Rat Pack in full battle mode and they pulled it off without really pulling it off. They all had a good time, and probably even a better one off the set while trolling Las Vegas for real between filming. Sammy Davis Jr's. self-effacing comment probably said it best to sum up the feel-good camaraderie between himself and the rest of the Rat Packers - "I knew this color would come in handy some day."

MartinHafer There is something about heist pictures. Nearly all of them are very good and exciting and of all the genres, it's one of the most consistently good. Think about it--with films like "Rififi", "Grand Slam", "The Italian Job", "The Killing" and "Topkapi" it's easy to find a great heist film. Well, despite my trepidation, it turns out that "Ocean's Eleven" is also another dandy heist film. I say trepidation because I always assumed it was just a vanity project--an excuse for Sinatra and his friends to get together and make a film. Well, while this is true, the film also was quite nice--with a dandy script and nice acting all around.The film's title comes from Frank Sinatra's character's name--Danny Ocean. Danny is organizing a bunch of his old war buddies to commit the ultimate robbery--to simultaneously hit the five big casinos in Vegas. The planning is meticulous, the heist comes off without a hitch--but you KNOW with a film like this SOMETHING will go wrong, and by the end, that's exactly what happens. See it for yourself and you'll know what I mean.I really liked the movie. Although this WAS a bunch of friends getting together to make a film, they obviously cared to make a good one. The great twist ending sure helped but it also was nice that they gathered such an amazing ensemble cast. Well worth seeing--particularly so you can hear Sammy Davis deliver the line: "I knew this color would come in handy one day". Watch the film--you'll understand why it's so funny.