Sunday, June 24, 2018

Film: Ocean's 8









GENRE: Comedy Crime
RATING: PG-13 for language and suggestive content
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 50 minutes
STARRING: Sandra Bullock (Miss Congeniality, The Proposal, Speed)
Cate Blanchett (Thor 3, Carol), Anne Hathaway (Les Mis, Bride Wars)
DIRECTOR: Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Hunger Games, Seabiscuit)
WRITERS: Gary Ross (Big, Dave), Olivia Milch (newcomer)
PLOT: Debbie Ocean gets an all-female crew to steal some jewels at the Met Gala   

FULL DISCLOSURE: Loved Ocean’s 11 & 13. 12 was meh.

STORY STUFF: Not bad but a tad predictable. It’s probably because of seeing the other Ocean films, but the formula is pretty set. There are some fun moments throughout but it gets dull in the last quarter of the film. Too much time post-heist. Liked the couple of members from the original trilogy making cameos to give the film some more credibility.

ACTING STUFF: While all the cons do a fine job, two of the actresses took it up a notch. You could tell that Hathaway was having a blast playing completely self-involved actress; it was fun to watch. I also enjoyed Rihanna, who played it cool. Actually, now that I think about it, I also enjoyed Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) as Constance. The main guy was very blah. And while the late night host playing the insurance agent was fun and all, it seemed like a bizarre casting choice.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Ross manages to evoke a similar slickness as the other Ocean films, but Sodherbergh was better. Some nice music choices. Not much else to say.

VERDICT: Two and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You forget the plot of the other Ocean films.
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

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