Movie Review: Ocean's 8

Ocean's 8 *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Gary Ross.

Written by: Gary Ross & Olivia Milch based on characters by George Clayton Johnson & Jack Golden Russell.

Starring: Sandra Bullock (Debbie Ocean), Cate Blanchett (Lou), Anne Hathaway (Daphne Kluger), Mindy Kaling (Amita), Sarah Paulson (Tammy), Awkwafina (Constance), Rihanna (Nine Ball), Helena Bonham Carter (Rose Well ), Richard Armitage(Claude Becker), James Corden (John Frazier), Dakota Fanning (Penelope Stern).

 

You cannot really blame Ocean’s 8 for not being quite the perfect, lightweight, endlessly re-watchable film that Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s 11 was – after all, Soderbergh himself couldn’t pull off that magic trick twice even though he made two sequels to the Oceans movies (to be fair to Soderbergh, he didn’t really try – those movies increasingly became about themselves more than anything else – and he was able to get there with Logan Lucky – everyone else just needs to realize that now). The frustrating thing about Ocean’s 8 is how close it comes to being that, without ever getting there. They clearly have the right cast – there is not a weak link in it, they’ll all having a blast, and it’s fun to watch them work together. As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but wonder why they hired Gary Ross to direct it. No offense to Ross – who is a fine filmmaker in his own right, but this movie needed the lightweight, breezy kick that a master like Soderbergh gave the original film. And if you weren’t getting Soderbergh back, why not hire a woman to direct? Ross’ direction on Oceans 8 isn’t – its solid, but not spectacular – he’s clearly seen Ocean’s 11 countless times (as have we all) and is trying to ape Soderbergh’s style, but it just never quite gets there. The resulting movie is still undeniably fun – I cannot imagine anyone with any interest in seeing it who would walk out not having had a good time. More there was more here that could have been done – and it just feels like they left it on the table.

 

The plot of the movie is both very simple and hugely complex. In a nutshell, Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), sister of Clooney’s Danny, is just out of jail, and wants to kill two birds with one stone – one commit an impossibly complex robbery and two, get even with her ex-boyfriend Claude (Richard Armitage) who was responsible for her going to jail in the first place. She immediately hooks back up with her old partner Lou (Cate Blanchett) – and tells her the plan to rob a $150 million Cartier necklace from the Met Gala that will be around the neck of Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway). Of course, they’ll need a team – hacker Nine Ball (Rihanna), diamond expert Amita (Mindy Kalling), fence Tammy (Sarah Paulson), pickpocket Constance (Awkwafina) and fashion designer Rose (Helena Bonham Carter) all join up pretty quickly. The plan is, of course, impossibly complicated, and gets more so as one unexpected wrinkle after another comes up – but we all know how this is going to turn out in the end.

 

A chief pleasure of these movies has always been watching movie stars be movie stars – and few have done it better, or made it look so easy as Clooney and Pitt in the Ocean’s movies. Bullock and Blanchett pretty much pull it off however. Yes, there relationship is cribbed perhaps too heavily from Clooney/Pitt in the original – but since both are so perfectly cast, and work so effortlessly together, it doesn’t matter. This is also the movie that proves that Rihanna can have an acting career if she wants – she doesn’t do all that much to be honest, but she does it so well. The wonderfully named Awkafina isn’t given much to do either, but she’s so charming and funny while doing it, it doesn’t really matter. I loved how Helena Bonham Carter decided to make her character Irish for no reason, although it works wonderfully. Sarah Paulson is clearly overqualified for her role as the criminal turned mommy turned criminal again – but she’s still in fine form. Poor Mindy Kaling may be the weakest of the bunch – not because she’s bad per se, but she’s certainly the one who fades most into the background. The standout performance is clearly by Anne Hathaway – not playing a version of herself, but playing a version of herself in the minds of all those idiots who have decided they hate her for reasons that have always escaped me. The more vapid and over the top she goes here, the more I loved her in it.

 

The movie moves along at a brisk clip through, and is never less than fun. It’s just lacking that certain something that would make it go from fun movie you’ll forget about in a few days, to the type of classic that plays on every cable channel once a week for entirety like Ocean’s 11. If they make a sequel to this film – and they should – they need to swing for the fences more. Bring in someone behind the camera capable of giving all that talent in front of the camera the movie they really deserve.