I make it no secret that Ocean's Eleven is
one of my ten favorite movies ever, and I've had my doubts about Ocean's 8
ever since I first heard about it because of the inevitable comparison. O11
is one of the slickest movies I've ever seen. I've never seen a heist movie
that is so relaxed and competent. The film is surprisingly dense. Even when I
watch it now for the umpteenth time, I'll catch a new joke or bit of dialogue
that I never noticed before. I consider it a bonus that the heist itself is
interesting, because all I need is those characters bouncing off on another to
make it enjoyable. The other Ocean's films haven't been quite as good. I
never cared for the original Ocean's 11 with the Rat Pack. It's just
didn't work for me. Ocean's Twelve leans a little too hard on jokes in
favor of the plot. You get the sense that the cast just wanted to take a
European vacation and subsidized it by filming a movie. Ocean's Thirteen
is a nice return to form but lost a lot of the ease of the first. The O11
shadow looms large. I certainly couldn't get over that when I saw Logan Lucky last
year.
So, how does O8 fair? All in all, pretty
well. The cast is a good start. An Ocean's movie doesn't work without a
great cast. You need to believe that you are watching pros in every sense of
the word. All else being equal, I'd probably see a movie with the O8
cast than the O11 cast. The move out of Las Vegas is smart. This time,
it's about a jewelry heist at the Met Gala in New York. Otherwise, this doesn't
stray too far from the formula. It's still about a heist. The crew all have
specialties and colorful backstories. There's a lot of joking around, a couple
close calls, and a nice twist or two. The movie zips along at a good pace. Gary
Ross and company get an Ocean's movie right.
The film begins, similar to O11, with Debbie
Ocean (Sandra Bullock), Danny's Sister, getting out of prison. It's clear
immediately that she's an even bigger con than her brother. Danny liked to hide
his intentions some. Debbie is talking with the guards about the prison black
market while being released and we follow her running numerous smalls cons on her
first day out. This is a compulsion for her and she is fine with it. She's
spent the last five years in prison planning a big job and starts assembling
her team immediately. First up is Lou (Cate Blanchett), her best friend. She's
every bit Debbie's Rusty, running small-time hustles while Debbie has been
locked up and ready for something bigger. OK, a little hesitant. Their team is
a bit smaller than Danny's but no less endearing. Nine Ball (Rihanna) is the
best non-Russian hacker on the East coast. Constance (Awkwafina) is a skilled
pick pocket. Tammy (Sarah Paulson), well, she knows how to get things. Amita
(Mindy Kaling) and Rose Weil (Helena Bohnam Carter) aren't so much professional
criminals as they are women with specialties specific to this caper. The plan
is to steal a necklace worth $150 million from neck of Daphne Kluger (Anne
Hathaway), a famous actress, at the Met Gala. You may notice that I've only
listed a team of seven so far. Much like in O11, figuring out the last
member of the team is part of the fun. It could just be referring to Hathaway
as the eighth big name in the cast. Perhaps it's Danny Ocean. He's written out
of the film early, but no one really believes it. It could be any of the others
from the last trilogy's crew. Or maybe some secret big name they've kept hidden
the whole time. I mean, if I told you that Tilda Swinton shows up in the third
act, wouldn't you believe me?*
*If you were really paying attention to everything
leading up to the release, you should already know who the eighth is.
One of the keys to a heist film is, of course,
getting the heist right. Heist films are among the most likely to fail my One Big Leap
test, simply because when the planning gets too hard, filmmakers will turn to
luck instead of good writing. Even O11 resorts to this at a couple
points. In O11, it was mostly baked-in luck (i.e. if this plan doesn't
work, then there's a back up plan ready). In O11, it's all intricately
thought out in several places. Despite the claims in the narration, O8
isn't as good a plan. It's all quite intricate and clever, but there are a few
too many instances of relying on something out of their control, like getting
the mark to pick a certain designer for her dress or bring a specific date to
the gala. This is a plan that shouldn't be picked at too much, because it falls
apart quickly upon closer inspection. It's a pretty easy heist, all things
considered. It goes almost entirely according to plan. If I was seeing this
movie for the heist, then I'd be let down that there wasn't more to it.
I didn't see this for the heist though. I saw it for
the cast. The worst thing I can say about the cast is that their wasn't enough
time with any of the characters. I would've loved to be on set for this,
because it looked like a lot of fun. Sandra Bullock is having a blast
throughout this. Having Cate Blanchett ostensibly in the sidekick role is a
proper reflection of the embarrassment of talent in this movie. There will never
be enough Mindy Kaling in any comedy as far as I'm concerned. She does well
with the time she's given though. Helena Bonham Carter plays her role very big
and it's delightful. She's the biggest outsider in the crew and it shows. One
of these days, I'd like to break down all of Rihanna's acting roles (because
I've inadvertently seen all of them). This isn't a role I'd expect her to take,
which, in a weird way, fits with how she's picked roles. Awkwafina is easily
the least polished actress in the cast, but she works that into her character.
The stand outs in the film are Sarah Paulson and Anne Hathaway. Paulson gets
the most obviously funny character. She's a homemaker who doesn't try very hard
to hide her "work" from her family*. Paulson plays it wonderfully.
This might be, on a per minute basis, my favorite Anne Hathaway performance.
She's not in the film all that much, but she relishes every second of it. With
any luck, they will work her into any potential sequels the way the earlier
films did with Andy Garcia.
*I'd love to see a shared universe with Paulson's
Tammy and Allison from Orphan Black.
Weirdly enough, there's a digression at the end of
the film that's similar to one that bothered me in Logan Lucky. In Logan
Lucky, Hilary Swank comes in to investigate the robbery. It doesn't fit in
with the rest of the movie and could've been cut out easily enough. The same
goes for James Corden as the insurance investigator in O8. I like Corden
and think he's pretty good in this. It kind of feels like he's in this movie as
a way to simplify the exposition though. I really wouldn't mind that except I
spent most of his scenes thinking "OK, but could we find a way to do this
that involves Mindy Kaling or Sarah Paulson?" His scenes came at the
expense of the core cast.
I have a lot of thoughts about Ocean's 8 and
they are almost all because of my love of Ocean's Eleven. The important
thing is that O8 stands on its own. Compared to something like Now You See Me, it's a
masterpiece. The franchise is in a great place right now. Best of all, I didn't
even have to address some sort of controversy about it being an all female
cast. Isn't it nice to just be able to talk about the movie?
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
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