Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writers (WGA):

George Nolfi (written by)
George Clayton Johnson (characters) ...

Release Date:

10 December 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

You cross one ocean, you face them all

Plot:

Daniel Ocean recruits one more team member so he can pull off three major European heists in this sequel to Ocean's 11.

Plot Keywords:

Heist | Thief | Sequel | Con Artist | Revenge

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Brad Pitt	...	Rusty Ryan
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Isabel Lahiri
George Clooney	...	Danny Ocean
Ed Kross	...	Bank Officer
Julia Roberts	...	Tess Ocean
Don Tiffany	...	House Painter
Anne Jacques	...	Shop Owner
David Sontag	...	Plainclothes Goon #1
Larry Sontag	...	Plainclothes Goon #2
Andy Garcia	...	Terry Benedict
Casey Affleck	...	Virgil Malloy
Dina Connolly	...	Virgil's Fiancée
Scott Caan	...	Turk Malloy
Nelson Peltz	...	Partygoer
Mini Anden	...	Supermodel

Also Known As:

Ocean's 12 (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language.

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Dutch | French | Italian | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Malaysia:U | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Czech Republic:12 | Denmark:A | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | UK:12A (original rating) | UK:12 (video rating) (2005) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41268) | Greece:K

Filming Locations:

's-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The Night Fox's mansion is on the shores of Lake Como in Italy. The name of the city overlooking Lake Como is Bellagio. The city and the lake were the inspiration for the design of the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas, site of the heist in Ocean's Eleven (2001).

Goofs:

Continuity: The newspapers on the table in the train change positions and layout between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Rusty Ryan: Hi.
Isabel Lahiri: How'd it go?
Rusty Ryan: Lousy.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Player (1992)

Soundtrack:

El Capitalismo Foraneo

Leaves you pining for '11'

Three years ago Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his team stole 160 million dollars from Terry Benedict (Garcia). Now Benedict wants his money back. Plus interest. Thus Ocean and his crew must scramble together what they owe; too hot to work in America, they set their sights on Amsterdam.... where, not so coincidently, Rusty Ryan (Pitt) has an ex-love (Zeta-Jones) who just so happens to be head of police and hot on their trail. But Benedict and sexy cop Isabel Lahiri (Zeta-Jones) aren't the crew's only problem. Another thief under the alias of "nightfox" ( Vincent Cassel) is keen to battle it out with Ocean and his team; to decide who the best thief (or thieves) are.

And there you have Ocean's 12; a film which falls too short in terms of wit, appearance, plot... and pretty much everything else in comparison to the original Ocean's 11.

One thing must be made clear, however; the cast is great. Spectacular really. There is a definite and rare chemistry between everyone; even Catherina Zeta-Jones, newcomer to the Soderbergh film. And it is indeed very rare to jam-pack a film with so many big name celebs without the film being ruined by too much star power and not enough of anything else. And these films do indeed have A lot of Hollywood star power in them; Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherina Zeta Jones, Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle... just to name the biggest names. And watching Ocean's 11, you can tell that the crew enjoyed making this film. Unfortunately, the audience may not gain the same pleasure as the actors did....

If you were like me, absolutely blown away by the chic and jazzy first film, then Ocean's 12 will be a disappointment. The first movie was simply 'classy'. All of the shots, every single take, camera angles were all very clean-cut, solid and very stylish. In this film however, Soderbergh decides to use the currently popular 'shaky cam' technique for some scenes. I can understand why. In this film, unlike the first one, the crew haven't had time to plan to perfection their 'pull'. In this film its a mad rush to meet Benedict's deadline and I suppose Soderbergh wanted to get that rashness and disorientation across. But it wrecks the film. He really should have stuck to his original idea of having it all snazzy, bold and clean. Plus it is confusing when the film snaps between past and present to explain how the crew made some of their robberies; it looks messy and ugly to change between shaky cam to the bolder scenes.

Secondly, the laughs are fewer in 12 and the script is duller. Ocean's 11 had a quick-wit and many a memorable line. Ocean's 12 has to sink so low as to throw in an age joke for Clooney; "Do i look 50?". The plot is predictable; from Julia Robert's 'impersonation' to the crew's great escape. It's all very blunt and can be spotted a mile away. And the summing up of the 'pull' is a little confusing; past tense (there's that shaky cam again!). I cant give too much away but my personal opinion is that the explanation of how the team pulled of the robbery is a little confusing and a sort of "huh"? moment which you will need to disucss with other's who have seen the film, to make sure you absolutely understood everything.

All in all the film is a let down. By all means go and see it; if for no other reason than to drool over the gorgeous Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and George Clooney.... But do not get your hopes up. As the credits roll you will find yourself feeling cheated somehow. Ocean's 11 was a real gem but Ocean's 12 just leaves you pining for the original.... 5.5/10