[at the end of a poker game] I'm not sure what four nines does, but with the ace I think it's pretty high.
Cause the house always wins. You play long enough, never change the stakes, the house takes you. Unless, when that perfect hand comes along, you bet big, and then you take the house.
You're either in or you're out. Right now.
[to Rusty] Ten oughta do it, don't you think? [Rusty says nothing] You think we need one more? [Rusty still says nothing] You think we need one more. [Yet again, Rusty says nothing] Okay, we'll get one more.
[teaching poker to young Hollywood actors] Shane, you've got three pairs. You can't have six cards! You can't have six cards in a five-card game!
Did someone call for a doctor?
[as Tess walks down the stairs] This is the best part of my day.
[the rest of the crew get out of the van, leaving Linus in the back with Turk and Virgil in the front] No no no no, don't leave me with these guys!
[Exposing Frank's criminal past to Benedict while pretending to be from the Nevada Gaming Commission] Apparently, he's got a record longer than my... well, it's long.
Window or aisle, boys? Yeah, we're in deep shit!
Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American comedy-crime caper and
remakeA remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the 1960
Rat PackThe Rat Pack was a group of actors originally centered on Humphrey Bogart. In the mid-1960s it was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a later variation of the group, after Bogart's death, that called itself "the summit" or "the clan," featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean...
caper filmA heist film is a film that has an intricate plot woven around a group of people trying to steal something. Versions with dominant or prominent comic elements are often called caper movies. They could be described as the analogues of caper stories in film history...
of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by
Steven SoderberghSteven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
and features an
ensemble castAn ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
including
George ClooneyGeorge Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
,
Brad PittWilliam Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
,
Matt DamonMatthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
,
Don CheadleDonald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
,
Andy GarcíaAndrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...
, and
Julia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
. The film was a success at the box office and with critics. Soderbergh directed two
sequelA sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s,
Ocean's TwelveOcean's Twelve is a 2004 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Like its predecessor, which was a remake of the 1960 film Ocean's 11, the film used a celebrity ensemble cast. It was released in the United States on December 10, 2004. A third film, Ocean's Thirteen, was...
in 2004 and
Ocean's ThirteenOcean's Thirteen is a 2007 crime comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring an ensemble cast. It is the third and final film in the Soderbergh series following the 2004 sequel Ocean's Twelve and the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven, which itself was a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film Ocean's 11...
in 2007.
Plot
After being released from prison,
Danny OceanDaniel "Danny" Ocean is a fictional character in the original Ocean's 11, its 2001 remake and the two films that followed the remake . The character was portrayed by Frank Sinatra in the original film, and by George Clooney in the remake trilogy...
(
George ClooneyGeorge Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
) breaks parole and travels to
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to meet up with his former partner in crime and close friend
Rusty RyanRobert Charles "Rusty" Ryan is a fictional character in Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. The films are based on the original Ocean's Eleven with the Rat Pack, though Rusty does not appear in it...
(
Brad PittWilliam Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
) to propose a scheme he has in mind. The two go to Las Vegas to pitch the plan to wealthy friend and former casino owner Reuben Tishkoff (
Elliott GouldElliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...
). The plan consists of simultaneously robbing the
BellagioBellagio is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in the Paradise area of unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, USA and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. It is owned by MGM Resorts International and was built on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel and casino.Inspired by the...
,
The MirageThe Mirage is a 3,044 room hotel and casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States.The Mirage is connected by a free tram to Treasure Island. The marquee in front of the Mirage is the largest free standing marquee in the world.-History:The Mirage was built by...
, and the
MGM GrandThe MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the third largest hotel in the world and largest hotel resort complex in the United States in front of The Venetian. The MGM Grand was the largest hotel in the world when it opened in...
casinos. Reuben's familiarity with
casino securityCasino security refers to the measures that are taken at casinos to protect the establishment's money and property and the patrons. The security protects the casino and its customers from violent crime, theft, and other inappropriate behavior....
makes him very reluctant to get involved, but when he begins to think of it as a good way to get back at his rival, Terry Benedict (
Andy GarcíaAndrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...
), who owns the three casinos, Reuben agrees to finance the operation. Because the casinos are required by the
Nevada Gaming CommissionThe Nevada Gaming Commission is a Nevada state governmental agency involved in the regulation of casinos throughout the state, along with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. It was founded in 1959 by the Nevada Legislature....
to have enough cash on hand to cover all their patrons' bets, the three predict that, on the upcoming night of a highly anticipated boxing match, the Bellagio vault will contain more than $150 million.
Ocean and Ryan recruit eight former colleagues and criminal specialists, including Linus Caldwell (
Matt DamonMatthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
), a young and talented pick-pocket thief. Also recruited are Frank Catton (
Bernie MacBernard Jeffrey McCullough , better known by his stage name, Bernie Mac, was an American actor and comedian. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D. L...
), a casino worker and con man, Virgil and Turk Malloy (
Casey AffleckCaleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
and
Scott CaanScott Andrew Caan is an American actor. He stars in the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award. He is the son of actor James Caan.-Early life:...
), a pair of gifted mechanics, Livingston Dell (
Eddie JemisonEdward F. "Eddie" Jemison is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the Ocean's Eleven trilogy and the television series Hung.-Life and career:...
) an electronics and surveillance expert, Basher Tarr (
Don CheadleDonald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
) an explosives expert, Saul Bloom (
Carl ReinerCarl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
) an elderly con man, and "The Amazing" Yen (
Shaobo QinA member of the internationally acclaimed Peking Acrobats, Shaobo Qin made his motion picture debut in 2001, playing The Amazing Yen, Danny Ocean's "grease man" in the remake of Ocean's Eleven. He reprised the role in 2004 in Ocean's Twelve and again in the sequel Ocean's Thirteen. He has no other...
) an accomplished acrobat. Several of the team members carry out reconnaissance at the Bellagio to learn as much as possible about the security, the routines and behaviors of the casino staff, and the building itself. Others create a precise replica of the vault with which to practice maneuvering through its formidable security systems. During this planning phase, the team discovers that Ocean's ex-wife, Tess (
Julia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
), is Benedict's girlfriend. Ryan urges Ocean to give up on the plan, believing Ocean incapable of sound judgement while Tess is involved, but Ocean refuses.
When the plan is put in motion, Ocean goes to the Bellagio in order to be seen by Benedict, who, as expected, has him locked in a storeroom to be beaten by a bouncer called Bruiser. Ocean, however, knows Bruiser, and he allows Ocean to leave through a ventilation shaft, to meet with his team in the vault. Linus Caldwell poses as a gaming commission agent, and reveals to Benedict that Ramon Escalante is actually Frank Catton, an ex-con. Caldwell and Catton stage a faux confrontation to allow Linus to steal Benedict's access card. Yen is smuggled into the vault by the Malloy brothers, to assist in triggering the explosive from the inside. Saul Bloom sneaks explosive into the casino vault by posing as an international arms dealer needing especially secure safekeeping for his valuables, and then stages a heart attack that was treated by
RyanRobert Charles "Rusty" Ryan is a fictional character in Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. The films are based on the original Ocean's Eleven with the Rat Pack, though Rusty does not appear in it...
posing as a doctor.
The team activates a stolen
pinchA pinch is the compression of an electrically conducting filament by magnetic forces. The conductor is usually a plasma, but could also be a solid or liquid metal...
device to temporarily disrupt the casino's electrical power, allowing them to breach the vault undetected. As Benedict attempts to restore order following the power outage, Ryan anonymously calls him on a cell phone that Ocean had earlier planted in Tess's coat. Ryan tells him that the vaults are being raided, and that all the money will be destroyed if Benedict does not cooperate in loading half the money into a van waiting outside. Benedict observes video footage of the vault that confirms Ryan's claims, and complies in moving the money, but orders his men to follow the van after it departs, and calls a
S.W.A.T.A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
team to secure the vault. The S.W.A.T. team's arrival results in a shootout which causes the incineration of the half of the money left in the vault. After assuring Benedict that the casino is secure, the officers depart.
Benedict's men following the van discover that it is being driven remotely, and that, instead of money, it contains duffel bags full of flyers advertising prostitutes. Terry realizes that the vault video feed was faked as the vault floor in the footage lacked the Bellagio logo, which had recently been installed. A flashback reveals that Ocean had used the vault replica to create the fake video Benedict had seen; the rest of the team posed as S.W.A.T. officers, and took all of the money in the vault when responding to Benedict's call for police assistance. Benedict then returns to the room where he left Ocean and finds him still there, leaving him with no way to connect Ocean to the theft. As Tess watches via security surveillance, Ocean gets Benedict to say he would give up Tess in exchange for the money. Ocean then says he "knows a guy", but Benedict tips off the police. Tess leaves Benedict, and exits the hotel just in time to see Ocean arrested for violating parole. When he is released, he is met by Rusty and Tess, and the three drive off, closely followed by Benedict's bodyguards.
Cast
Ocean's Eleven
In order of recruitment:
- George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
as Danny OceanDaniel "Danny" Ocean is a fictional character in the original Ocean's 11, its 2001 remake and the two films that followed the remake . The character was portrayed by Frank Sinatra in the original film, and by George Clooney in the remake trilogy...
- Bernie Mac
Bernard Jeffrey McCullough , better known by his stage name, Bernie Mac, was an American actor and comedian. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D. L...
as Frank Catton
- Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
as Rusty RyanRobert Charles "Rusty" Ryan is a fictional character in Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. The films are based on the original Ocean's Eleven with the Rat Pack, though Rusty does not appear in it...
- Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...
as Reuben Tishkoff
- Casey Affleck
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
as Virgil Malloy
- Scott Caan
Scott Andrew Caan is an American actor. He stars in the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award. He is the son of actor James Caan.-Early life:...
as Turk Malloy
- Eddie Jemison
Edward F. "Eddie" Jemison is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the Ocean's Eleven trilogy and the television series Hung.-Life and career:...
as Livingston Dell
- Don Cheadle
Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
as Basher Tarr
- Shaobo Qin
A member of the internationally acclaimed Peking Acrobats, Shaobo Qin made his motion picture debut in 2001, playing The Amazing Yen, Danny Ocean's "grease man" in the remake of Ocean's Eleven. He reprised the role in 2004 in Ocean's Twelve and again in the sequel Ocean's Thirteen. He has no other...
as "The Amazing" Yen
- Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
as Saul Bloom
- Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
as Linus Caldwell
Cameos
- Five television actors make cameos
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as themselves, being taught how to play pokerPoker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
by Rusty:
- Holly Marie Combs
Holly Marie Combs is an American film and television actress and producer whose roles have included a portrayal in Charmed as Piper Halliwell and another in Picket Fences, where she received a Young Artist Award for her role, as Kimberly Brock...
- Topher Grace
Christopher John "Topher" Grace is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Eric Forman on the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, Eddie Brock/Venom in the Sam Raimi film Spider-Man 3, and Edwin in the 2010 film Predators....
- Joshua Jackson
Joshua Carter Jackson is a Canadian American actor. He has appeared in primetime television and in over 32 film roles. He is best known for playing Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks film series, Pacey Witter in the television series Dawson's Creek and Peter Bishop in the television series...
- Barry Watson
Michael Barrett "Barry" Watson is an American actor, known for his roles of Dr. Matthew "Matt" Camden on 7th Heaven, Brian Davis in What About Brian and Todd Deepler in Samantha Who?-Early life:...
- Shane West
Shane West is an American actor, musician and songwriter. West is best known for portraying Eli Sammler in Once and Again, Landon Carter with Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember, Darby Crash in What We Do Is Secret, and Dr...
- Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
as one of the bank robbers with Basher
- Siegfried and Roy as themselves
- Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
as himself
- Henry Silva and Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson is an American actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films, including Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, Dressed to Kill and Pay It Forward, and starred on television as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970s crime series Police Woman.-Early life:Dickinson, the second of...
as themselves (both appeared in the originalOcean's 11 is a 1960 heist film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring five Rat Packers: Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop....
)
- Wladimir Klitschko
Wladimir Klitschko is a Ukrainian heavyweight boxer. Klitschko is the WBA , IBF, WBO Super, IBO & Ring Magazine Champion. His older brother Vitali Klitschko is the current WBC champion...
as himself
- Lennox Lewis
Lennox Claudius Lewis, CM, CBE is a retired boxer and the most recent British undisputed world heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship...
as himself
- Jerry Weintraub
Jerry Weintraub is an American film producer and former chairman and CEO of United Artists. He now lives in Palm Desert, California.-Life and career:...
as a high-roller gambler
Critical
The film holds an 81% "Certified Fresh" rating at
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
People magazine called the film "pure fun from start to finish," and included it in its end-of-year Best of Screen list.
NewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
said
Ocean's Eleven "bounces along with finger-snapping high spirits," and said that while Soderbergh has "made deeper films, ...this carefree caper movie is nothing to sneeze at."
TimeTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's reviewer Richard Corliss criticized the film, saying it "doesn't offer much." In a poll during November 2008,
EmpireEmpire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine called
Ocean's Eleven the 500th best film on
The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. For Don Cheadle's role in this film, he needed to learn to speak with a cockney accent, which was slaughtered by critics and is recognised as being one of the worst accents in film. Don Cheadle commented on his accent, saying "My British friends... tell me [it's] a truly terrible London accent in Ocean's 13. You know something, I really worked on that accent. Went to London, spoke to people, got to know it... my agent said it was fine, so I'm stuck with this thing. Even though everyone laughs at me. So I sacked her, of course".
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
put "The
Ocean's Eleven heist scene" on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Featuring three impregnable Vegas casinos and 11 ring-a-ding criminals, Steven Soderbergh's 2001 roll of the dice provided the most winning robbery sequence of the decade."
Commercial
Ocean's Eleven had a budget of about $85 million. On its opening weekend, it grossed an estimate of $38 million and was the top box office draw for the weekend. The film grossed $183,417,150 in the United States and grossed $267,311,379 overseas leaving a worldwide gross of $450,728,529.
External links