Ocean's Eleven

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson, Richard Conte, Cesar Romero, Patrice Wymore, Joey Bishop, Shirley MacLaine (uncredited)
Directed by: Lewis Milestone
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Crime
1960

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Danny Ocean (Frank Sinatra) and ten of his old army friends decide to pull off the impossible heist- rob five Las Vegas casinos in one night- and get away with it.

Review:

Tim: I was actually a little bit disappointed in Ocean's Eleven. I knew it would be a lightweight film, but I was hoping for a little more substance- a little more coolness. In some aspects, this film featured a collection of the coolest people on the planet- The Rat Pack. And yet, this film is seriously lacking any real coolness. I admit that it is possible that this film hasn't aged well, but from my point of view, this is only a decent crime thriller.

There are a number of problems with this film. First off, it is way too long at over 2 hours in length. There just isn't enough here to support that time frame. The movie needed to be cut down, and I can think of a number of extra scenes that weren't needed. Secondly, the film features a surprising twist ending. I like twist endings, but this one was wholly unsatisfying. We watch the entire film, and it leads up to THAT conclusion? Was it surprising? Yes. Was it twisting and unexpected? Yes. Was it satisfying? Nope.

I also thought there was too much ab-libbing going on. I understand that the Rat Pack were all friends and enjoyed hanging out together, but some of the improvisations felt silly. I wish these scenes had been better written. There were also a number of scenes that tried to be funny, but just didn't work out. I am not sure if prank calling people was cool and funny in 1960, but it's mostly lame today.

I admit that the heist scene is pretty cool. It involves a good deal of ingenuity and has a few suspenseful moments. However, the heist itself takes up far too little screen time, and then we have to deal with a number of scenes about a future father in law trying to round up Ocean and the gang. These scenes aren't very satisfying, and feel like a letdown after the build up to the heist. The script needed to be polished up a bit, and these scenes could have been made more effective.

I did enjoy seeing the Rat Pack together on screen. Frank Sinatra was certainly a cool, enjoyable actor to watch, and he makes a good Danny Ocean. I've always been a huge fan of Dean Martin, and I enjoyed him here. I liked that he got to sing a few songs, and his interactions with Sinatra and others was legitimately fun to watch. He might have been my favorite actor in the film. I liked seeing Sammy Davis, Jr. in the film, although the racism of the time made me feel bad for him. He's a terrific singer, and got to sing a song as well. The rest of the supporting players are good, and I loved seeing Shirley MacLaine in a small, uncredited role.

Ocean's Eleven is a decent heist movie, but I wanted more out of it. The script is a bit of a mess, as it focuses too much on less effective scenes and subplots. The Rat Pack was fun to watch on screen, but needed a better script to keep them focused. The movie as a whole isn't bad, but it isn't very satisfying, either.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen