STARS : George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle & Elliot Gould

Ocean’s Eleven is an UPDATE of the film of the same name from the 1960’s that starred the original Brat Pack (Sinatra, Martin, Davis JR etc) that has been strikingly brought into the 21st century in a sleek and very stylish manner by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brokovich).

Daniel Ocean (Clooney) has just been released from prison after serving 4 years for theft after getting away with numerous heists before. He spent his time dreaming of the ultimate heist : robbing the vault that the Bellagio, Mirage and MGM Grand casinos in Las Vegas, send their money to. In ORDER to pull this off though he’s gonna need some help so he enlists the help of Rusty Ryan (Pitt). Together they know all the right people and Ocean’s Eleven is born.

That’s all the plot details that I’m going to reveal for two reasons. 1) Most of us have seen the original and 2) The rest of us saw this film when it grossed around 15 Million at the Australian box office a couple of months back.

Even if the script had been a complete stinker, this cast would have still carried the film to great heights. Clooney, Roberts and Cheadle are all becoming Soderbergh regulars and their complete ease with not only the role but the director comes through as does some of their finest acting in recent years. The only notable exception is the fact that Julia Roberts is baically only there in a support role which is rather unusual but definitely disappointing.

Superb.

THE EXTRAS

* Audio Commentary 1 : Brad Pitt, Matt Damon & Andy Garcia- Quite an entertaining commentary, very witty and the three obviously had fun talking about the film, there are several silent moments at times. And Andy Garcia does not talk as much as the other two.

* Audio Commentary 2 : Director Steven Soderbergh & Screenwriter Ted Griffin - Very informative commentary, lots of information about the scenes, how they were shot and their casting decisions and the cast themselves. Again there are few silent moments.

* Making of Ocean’s Eleven (15:04 mins): Featurette with Interviews with Cast and Crew, Behind the scenes footage and the reasons for making the film.

* Documentary - “The Look of the Con” (9:40 mins): Interview with Jeffrey Kurland, the Costume Designer, about how he dressed the cast and the look he wanted to achieve for the film. Also Steven Soderbergh and cast interviews about the way they were dressed for the characters they portrayed.

* Theatrical Trailers : Theatrical Trailer (2:07 mins), Teaser Trailer #1 (0:30 secs) and Teaser Trailer #2 (2:06 mins)

* Cast & Crew : Selected Filmographies of some of the main cast members and crew.

* DVD-ROM Features : “In or Out” Challenge, Web Links & Screensavers

CONCLUSION

Sleek and stylish does not do this cool film justice. Steven Soderbergh’s directing talents has soared to new heights here and it’s due to the excellent script and supreme cast.