The only real pleasure in "Ocean's Eleven" is being let into the Rat Pack circle for a couple of hours... The film stops all too frequently for guest spots and in-jokes, with a slow first hour... Compared to Jules Dassin's 'Rififi,' or to Phil Karlson's 'Five Against the House,' it pales considerably...
'Ocean's Eleven' is a weak heist film with the emphasis firmly on light humor, and few diverting escapades, but nobody cares because the cast includes the biggest stars of the day (Frankie, Dino, Sammy etc...), burning the motion picture into the collective memory of the public as the first to showcase Hollywood's notorious Rat Pack...
'Ocean's Eleven' is a buddy movie made with real buddies, and it's fun... It in't supposed to be very good... It is supposed to be cool... A playground for legendary entertainers, these guys knew how to get the job done, to pause only to knock back innumerable Whisky sodas, wear their tuxedo, hang out in bars, talk the talk, belt out a couple of classy little numbers, and have a great sense of fun together on screen... And this fun filtered off the silver screen and into the audience like a tasty appetizer before the main course...
Old Blue Eyes is the mastermind of the heist... He is carrying out a plan originated by racketeer Spyros Acebos where five gambling casinos (Sahara, Riviera, Desert Inn, The Sand and The Flamingo) will be robbed simultaneously at midnight on New Year's celebration...
During the week before Christmas, the 'special combat team' (all experts in one thing and another) arrive in Las Vegas, for the job-of-a-lifetime... The scheme of the robbery is ingenious, requiring military precision and perfect timing... An electrical tower will be blown up to black out the whole town... The swag will be deposited in garbage cans outside the casinos, and the cans will be collected by a disposal truck...
On New Year's Eve, the hold-up goes off beautifully, exactly as planned... Only one of the men has a heart attack on the street and collapses... The gang cannot get the multi-million loot out of Las Vegas but they manage to hide it in some place, unknown to them, however, that 'someone' was preparing for them all a nice wry outcome...
Dean Martin, the eternal essence of cool, is the entertainer who sings "Ain't That a Kick in the Head,' and Sammy Davis Jr. is the perennial icon of cool who sings "EEO-Eleven.'
Peter Lawford is the playboy with one objective and one mission: To hit Las Vegas, Nevada!
Angie Dickinson is the understanding wife, discreet, feminine and chic... Unfortunately the camera does not especially flatter her looks...
Richard Conte is the master electrician dying of cancer, who needs to leave some cash for his kid's college...
Cesar Romero is coldly menacing and very amusing: 'They shouldn't have done it while I was in town. It's embarrassing!'
George Raft is the mob with the best deal to get the money back...
Akim Tamiroff is hilariously neurotic as the master planner...
Buddy Lester wants to get his wife out of stripping...
Shirley MacLaine is the drunk gal in urge for a little kiss in a critical moment...
Red Skelton is the unlucky player, arguing with the casino cashier how to raise his gambling limit...
"Ocean's Eleven" could never be made again... The new 'Ocean's Eleven,' 2001 is considerably different in the details.. After all, there was only 'one' Rat Pack, and if the Ocean's Eleven of 1960 is anything, it is certainly a Rat Pack movie... So if you still have a strange fascination with this gang of friends, and like to watch essentially a these guys playing around on screen, and to watch Las Vegas as it looked in 1960, well... check out this nostalgic trip back... You'll never see its like again...
'Ocean's Eleven' is a weak heist film with the emphasis firmly on light humor, and few diverting escapades, but nobody cares because the cast includes the biggest stars of the day (Frankie, Dino, Sammy etc...), burning the motion picture into the collective memory of the public as the first to showcase Hollywood's notorious Rat Pack...
'Ocean's Eleven' is a buddy movie made with real buddies, and it's fun... It in't supposed to be very good... It is supposed to be cool... A playground for legendary entertainers, these guys knew how to get the job done, to pause only to knock back innumerable Whisky sodas, wear their tuxedo, hang out in bars, talk the talk, belt out a couple of classy little numbers, and have a great sense of fun together on screen... And this fun filtered off the silver screen and into the audience like a tasty appetizer before the main course...
Old Blue Eyes is the mastermind of the heist... He is carrying out a plan originated by racketeer Spyros Acebos where five gambling casinos (Sahara, Riviera, Desert Inn, The Sand and The Flamingo) will be robbed simultaneously at midnight on New Year's celebration...
During the week before Christmas, the 'special combat team' (all experts in one thing and another) arrive in Las Vegas, for the job-of-a-lifetime... The scheme of the robbery is ingenious, requiring military precision and perfect timing... An electrical tower will be blown up to black out the whole town... The swag will be deposited in garbage cans outside the casinos, and the cans will be collected by a disposal truck...
On New Year's Eve, the hold-up goes off beautifully, exactly as planned... Only one of the men has a heart attack on the street and collapses... The gang cannot get the multi-million loot out of Las Vegas but they manage to hide it in some place, unknown to them, however, that 'someone' was preparing for them all a nice wry outcome...
Dean Martin, the eternal essence of cool, is the entertainer who sings "Ain't That a Kick in the Head,' and Sammy Davis Jr. is the perennial icon of cool who sings "EEO-Eleven.'
Peter Lawford is the playboy with one objective and one mission: To hit Las Vegas, Nevada!
Angie Dickinson is the understanding wife, discreet, feminine and chic... Unfortunately the camera does not especially flatter her looks...
Richard Conte is the master electrician dying of cancer, who needs to leave some cash for his kid's college...
Cesar Romero is coldly menacing and very amusing: 'They shouldn't have done it while I was in town. It's embarrassing!'
George Raft is the mob with the best deal to get the money back...
Akim Tamiroff is hilariously neurotic as the master planner...
Buddy Lester wants to get his wife out of stripping...
Shirley MacLaine is the drunk gal in urge for a little kiss in a critical moment...
Red Skelton is the unlucky player, arguing with the casino cashier how to raise his gambling limit...
"Ocean's Eleven" could never be made again... The new 'Ocean's Eleven,' 2001 is considerably different in the details.. After all, there was only 'one' Rat Pack, and if the Ocean's Eleven of 1960 is anything, it is certainly a Rat Pack movie... So if you still have a strange fascination with this gang of friends, and like to watch essentially a these guys playing around on screen, and to watch Las Vegas as it looked in 1960, well... check out this nostalgic trip back... You'll never see its like again...