Ocean's Eleven: Difference between revisions

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* The first film involves Danny, an ex-con fresh out of prison, approaching his buddy Rusty about performing a monumental heist. The goal? Rob the central vault of three casinos at the same time, during a boxing match so that the grand total in the safe would be a little over 160 million dollars. They gather the Eleven and come to learn that the man they are robbing, Terry Benedict, is a man whose principal crime seems to be that he's dating Danny's ''ex-wife'' Tess.

* The third is [[Best Served Cold]]: a member of the Eleven is double-crossed by an unscrupulous land-owner, Willy Bank (Al Pacino), with whom he was collaborating on the opening of a new casino. Danny convenes his gang to ruin this casino's opening night. This time Benedict joins forces with them, [[Enemy Mine|as he has his own issues with Bank]].

 

 

* Danny Ocean ([[George Clooney]]): The gang's mastermind, Ocean knows everything about Vegas and nearly everyone in it. His plan in the first film is to rob the casinos to take revenge on the guy who stole [[The Chick]] from him.

* Rusty Ryan ([[Brad Pitt]]): Ocean's level-headed right-hand man. A jack-of-all-trades, he plays a number of roles in the heists themselves. A running gag is that he is almost always snacking on something, showing his nonchalance.

* Frank Catton (Bernie Mac): A con artist who frequently plays the inside man. In the first heist, he works as a croupier in one of the marked casinos.

* Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle): A Cockney engineer, Basher is in charge of the heavy machinery involved in the heists. He speaks in an impenetrable combination of Cockney slang and technical jargon.

* Linus Caldwell ([[Matt Damon]]): A skilled pickpocket and Ocean's new protege. Linus comes from underworld royalty, as both of his parents are famous thieves. He desperately seeks to earn some respect of his own by pulling off big scores.

 

* Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia): The [[Big Bad]] of the first film, owner of the Bellagio, MGM Grand and the Mirage, three of the biggest casinos in Vegas. He provides the impetus for the second film by tracking down the Eleven and demanding repayment (with interest), and later becomes an ad hoc member of the Thirteen, both as a financial backer and [[The Shill]].

* Tess Ocean ([[Julia Roberts]]): [[The Chick]]. Ex-wife of Danny Ocean, who by the first film has shacked up with Benedict. She's the main reason why Danny decides to rob Benedict's casinos. She becomes a member of the Twelve after most of the main crew are jailed during a failed heist; the attempt to complete it involves Tess [[Celebrity Paradox|impersonating Julia Roberts]].

* Willie Bank ([[Al Pacino]]): the [[Big Bad]] of the third movie, a [[Jerkass]] business mogul who partners with Reuben to build a new hotel casino, only to muscle him out of his share. Reuben suffers a heart attack as a result, prompting the rest of the crew to take revenge.

* Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin): Bank's [[The Dragon|Dragon]] and personal assistant. She's the one who's really in control of everything at his casinos.

 

* [[Actor Allusion]]: Quite a few:

** George Clooney talking to other young actors about [[ER|the risks of going from TV to film]] in ''Eleven''

** In Matt Damon's first scene in ''Thirteen'' he's [[The Bourne Identity|in a foreign country and filmed in blue-tinted, washed-out]] [[Jittercam]]

** George Clooney being told to lose weight ([[Dyeing for Your Art|he had gained a lot]] for ''[[Syriana]]'') in ''Thirteen''

** Danny delivers this gem to Bank ([[Al Pacino]]):

* [[As Himself]]: [[Bruce Willis]] is the key to unraveling the Julia Roberts impersonation in the second film. (And, just to throw a wrench through the fourth wall, the credits end with, "[[And Starring]]: Tess Ocean as Julia Roberts.")

* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Reuben

* [[Badass Family]]: The Caldwells -- Linus' mom and dad are legendary thieves themselves {{spoiler|and save the day in ''Twelve'' and ''Thirteen'', respectively.}}

* [[Bavarian Fire Drill]]

** [[The Oprah Winfrey Show]] in ''Thirteen''.

** While discussing the plans to torment the hotel reviewer, Saul is asked if he'd go through that suffering for ten million. He says no, but he'd do it for eleven million. Guess how much money the hotel reviewer wins at the very end of the movie.

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Linus

** The poor hotel reviewer in ''Thirteen'', played by David Paymer. The crew makes his stay a living hell in order to sink Bank's reputation; Rusty makes it worth his while in the end.

** Producer Jerry Weintraub as Denny the whale. First appears as a high-roller in ''Eleven'', accidentally gets the guys in trouble with his bragging in ''Twelve'' and helps them out as an apology in ''thirteen''.

** Oprah Winfrey in ''Thirteen'', who is the source of a pretty darn good Brick Joke {{spoiler|at the expense of Benedict.}}

* [[The Caper]]

* [[Caper Rationalization]]: If there is one trope that drives the plot of these films other than [[The Caper]], it's [[Caper Rationalization]]. This merry band of crooks all have very good, reasonable, and ''understandable'' reasons for ripping people off for tens of millions of dollars per movie.

* [[The Cast Showoff]]: Vincent Cassel is a fantastic dancer. So is François Toulour.

** In ''Eleven'', the pine tree air freshener.

* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: In ''Eleven'', Virgil and his remote-controlled cars.

* [[The Chew Toy]]: The hotel reviewer in ''Thirteen'' that gets put through hell secretly by the crew so he would give Bank's new hotel a bad review. They make it up to him afterwards.

* [[Conspicuous CG]]: In one scene, the statues in the art museum in ''Twelve''.

* [[Description Cut]]: When Danny and Rusty go to recruit Livingston:

*cut to Livingston being a neurotic, skittish control freak while working surveillance with the FBI* }}

* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Benedict is feared because of his tendency to ''completely destroy'' the livelihoods of anybody who wrongs him, and everybody related to them as well. While doing recon on him, Linus informs Rusty that Benedict not only had the last guy who cheated in his casino put away for ten years, but he also had the bank seize the guy's house before bankrupting the tractor dealership of the guy's brother-in-law. As Reuben describes Benedict;

* [[DVD Commentary]]: On the director and writer track for ''Ocean's Eleven'', they comment a few times on the fact that there are probably only three people who bother to listen to these things.

* [[Dueling Stars Movie]]: In both the original [[Rat Pack]] and modern versions.

* [[Evilly Affable]]: Willy Bank in ''Thirteen,'' especially when he's muscling Reuben out of his share of the casino.

'''Bank:''' I don't ''want'' to. }}

* [[Fake Brit]]: American Don Cheadle as Cockney Basher Tarr. No audience member has yet been fooled.

* [[Fixing the Game]]: These are heist films, but some of the protagonists get side jobs as cheaters. Danny finds Rusty running a bent card game for [[Flash In The Pan]] teen beat celebs in the first film.

* [[Gambit Roulette]]

* [[Gilligan Cut]]: In ''Eleven.''

'''Reuben:''' You're outta your God damn minds! }}

* [[Give Me Back My Wallet]]

** ''Twelve'' had them intend to do this to the Coronation Egg before Toulour stole it, and failed, {{spoiler|except not. They actually did it en-route to the museum.}}

** Played with in ''Thirteen'', where Linus swapped the Five Diamond awards for fakes, only to have Toulour steal them from him. {{spoiler|He actually didn't. He had been there to plant bombs around the case so the entire thing could be stolen. Toulour actually stole the fakes. Again.}}

* [[Grand Staircase Entrance]]: Tess in the first film.

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Danny and Rusty

* [[Hollywood Law]]: Especially in the first film, there is a fictitious Nevada Gaming Commission law stipulating that casinos in the state are required to hold a minimum amount of cash on the premises, in the event that a high-roller strikes the grand jackpot. Not surprisingly, the title characters [[The Caper|hatch a plan]] to exploit this.

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: ''Twelve'': "Tell him having a sexy assistant is cliche." (Speaker's sexy assistant enters).

* [[The Infiltration]]: ''Eleven'' involves an intricate plan which requires numerous small infiltrations of the casino all in order to carry out the biggest infiltration at the end.

** File ''Eleven'' under it as well. Even Danny doesn't deny that Benedict's relationship with Tess is part of his motivation.

* [[Karmic Thief]]: The team targets two unscrupulous casino owners and a thief.

* [[Kick the Dog]]: In ''Thirteen'' Bank's first moment comes when he reveals he's screwing Reuben out of his share of the casino. He has plenty more throughout the movie. For example, his right-hand-woman, Abigail Sponder, manages to secure a mobile phone Bank wanted. She shows real delight in being able to get it for him, and sends it to him along with a note saying that it's a thank-you present for all the opportunities he's given her. He starts reading the note and rips it in half, obviously bored. He later fires a waitress for gaining 4 pounds between body checks.

* [[The Lancer]]: Rusty to Danny.

** Andy Garcia is lucky he didn't chip a tooth on the scenes set in a vault.

** Al Pacino, the [[Big Bad]] of the third movie, is a semi-large ham.

** Basher while impersonating the American stunt man in the third movie.

* [[Leno Device]]: Terry Benedict appears on "Oprah" at the end of ''Thirteen''.

* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: It's right in the title, even!

* [[Lost in Transmission]]: Virtually the canonical example:

'''Linus:''' ... }}

* [[Lovable Rogue]]: An entire crew of them

* [[A MacGuffin Full of Money]]

* [[Money to Burn]]: Happens here too, but rather than inside a casket in an oven, it happens during a shootout when it gets caught in the crossfire courtesy of a flamethrower.

* [[Motive Rant]]

* [[Mythology Gag]]: {{spoiler|The scene where the shootout leads to half of Danny's loot being torched by a flamethrower is almost certain homage to the climax of the original, where Ocean's loot is burned with Bergdorf's body.}}

* [[Noodle Implements]]: The various characters and scenarios Rusty forsees needing for the job in ''Eleven.'' A [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240772/trivia?tr=tr0745020 little research] can explain these terms.

* [[Noodle Incident]]

'''Rusty Ryan''': I'd never been to Belize. }}

* [[No Endor Holocaust]]: Just think about what shutting off all electricity in Las Vegas for 30 seconds would do. Think about people with pacemakers, think about cars that crash in the sudden darkness.

** Not just that, but an EMP would not just shut off the power for thirty seconds, it would [[Did Not Do the Research|destroy the power source and shut off the power permanently.]]

* [[The Nondescript]]

* [[The Notable Numeral]]

* [[Numbered Sequels]]: ''Twelve'' and ''Thirteen''

* [[The Perfect Crime]]: Theme of all three films.

* [[Plot Hole]]: {{spoiler|In ''Ocean's Eleven'', The bags of hooker fliers appear in the vault elevator without anyone carrying them in.}}

'''Danny Ocean:''' Well, Terry, it sure as shit ain't sad. }}

** Reuben gets one as well early in ''Eleven'', noting that even if somehow Danny and Rusty were able to get into the vault and walk out with $100+ million, "you're still in the middle of the fucking desert!"

* [[Production Posse]]

* [[Pseudo Crisis]]

* [[The Remake]]: Only the first one.

* [[Running Gag]]: Rusty is eating something almost every time he's on screen. Pitt said the idea behind this was that Rusty was so busy he didn't have time to eat otherwise.

'''Danny Ocean:''' Well, I know all the guys that you'd hire to come after me, and they like me better than you. }}

* [[Setting Update]]: The original was made in, and set in, [[The Sixties]].

* [[Squick]]: Used In-universe in ''Eleven'', Rusty gets a case of this when he pays off the stripper for getting him the keycard for Benedict's casino.

'''Rusty Ryan:''' ([[Beat]]) (pulls face, leaves) }}

* [[Slow Electricity]]: In the remake, when they use the EMP, there is the obligatory shot of the lights going out block by block.

* [[Specs of Awesome]]: Basher

* [[Stolen MacGuffin Reveal]]: In 12, the Egg was {{spoiler|stolen before the events of the movie, and the whole movie was a plot to return the original.}}

* [[Theme Naming]]:

** Roman's personal nemesis is named Greco. "Clearly, you've never served time in a British boarding school."

* [[Thirty Second Blackout]]: With the excuse that [[Applied Phlebotinum]] did it... and with predictable consequences inside the casino.

* [[Throw It In]]: The [[Running Gag]] of Rusty eating something during a scene came from Brad Pitt's penchant to eat close to shooting rather than on breaks, so Steven Soderbergh decided to just let him eat on-camera.

* [[Title Drop]] Happens one film too late:

* [[Title In]]: Played with for shits and giggles in all three films.

* [[Trojan Horse]]: A ''very'' elaborate one. See below.

* [[Unwinnable Training Simulation]]: A trial run of the burglary.

* [[Viewers Are Geniuses]]: If you don't pay attention (and sometimes even if you do) you probably won't understand what exactly the gang is doing for what reason.

* [[Waistcoat of Style]]: Terry's is ''antique kimono''<ref> Actually the obi, the thick "belt" that goes around the waist.</ref> ''fabric''.

* [[Xanatos Gambit]]: A classic version in the second film. {{spoiler|The heroes had won the contest before the heist even started. Everything else was just window dressing}}.

* [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]: The team has to do this at least once in all three films when something doesn't go according to plan.

'''Danny''': Ted Nugent called. He wants his shirt back. }}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Films of the 2000s]]

[[Category:Film]]