The Rat Pack did Las Vegas 40 years ago in the original Ocean's Eleven with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin out in front. Times have changed in the new millennium and the latest Frat Pack includes George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Julia Roberts, and team senior Carl Reiner. So, what makes Steven Soderbergh's remake of Ocean's Eleven tick? The director's able hand, the screenwriter's (Ted Griffen) clever dialogue, and an A-list of actors. Plot-wise, it's the mother of all heists: Daniel Ocean (George Clooney) gets out of prison to mastermind the looting of the biggest three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously. He assembles his posse of 11 top-level criminals to pull off the impossible- eluding state-of-the-art surveillance, heavily armed guards, and laser technology. Andy Garcia is the casino holder bristling with power, smoldering presence and with Julia Roberts at his side. Soderbergh is on the fast track to mastering the genre movie formula, starting with his breakthrough Indie gem, Sex, Lies & Videotape (1989), to his more current fare, Erin Brockovich and Traffic. If he keeps this up, it may be a battle of the two Bergs (make that
Ocean’s Eleven
