Ocean's Twelve

The gang is back and this time around they take along the svelte Catherine Zeta-Jones for a fun ride.

Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his cohorts are mysteriously tracked down by their old nemesis Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) and they are given ten days to return the money they stole from him plus interest, and it roughly runs to $160 mil.

The team regroups and heads to Amsterdam to start raising the money. In Europe, they meet another thief who is bent on reclaiming the odious title of being the world’s greatest.

The plot is thin and the storyline looks to have been written for the sole purpose of reuniting the old gang in a sort of homage to the success they had the first time around. However, Steven Soderbergh’s brilliant filmmaking and clever editing lifts the film to a massive all-star thrilling caper. Not only is the editing good, it actually sustains the thrill of watching Hollywood's biggest stars being paraded on screen.

The movie, at first, seems lost and confused when all cards are scattered wildly across and characters go in and out of the narrative. But, in true Soderbergh fashion the cards are slowly brought together and once the loose ends are tied up, we are presented with a stunning conclusion that is so imaginative it rivals to some degree the surprise twist of the first movie.

The cast are a joy to behold. When one is such a huge fan of movies, seeing all these stars having fun together in a movie is such sheer entertainment pleasure.

The musical score that bookends the film is also creatively utilized. I think the lyrics are in English but the sound is European, French to be exact. I have heard it once and it is indeed wonderful to listen to. Just like the deceptive music, the storytelling has some deceptions in its sleeve too because it is told from the viewpoint of one person who was trying to run the story from the background, but loses still in the end.

Watch for Julia Roberts when she does a hilarious character switch near the end.