A Tale of Two Oceans

After enjoying 2001’s Steven Soderbergh-directed critical and box office success, Ocean’s Eleven—which spawned two less interesting sequels: Ocean’s Twelve (2004) and Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)—we became interested in learning more about the original, a Rat Pack vehicle from 1960 which had been deemed inferior to the 21st century remake.



While we admittedly never made the effort to locate a copy of the older film, when the occasion to witness the exploits of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and company, and compare it to the George Clooney, Brad Pitt and pals version recently arrived in the wee hours—no pun intended—via one of the numerous cable TV channels at our disposal, we dove in.

The main selling point of a caper movie—this one involving a massive casino heist—is how believable the plotting, execution and outcome of the task at hand is to the viewer. Now granted, this being a Hollywood flick, suspension of disbelief is a necessary currency. But it seems so unlikely that a mission of this nature could be undertaken as easily and in such relatively vague detail as in the original. (Dean Martin’s character actually admits as much in the scene where the plan is outlined to all those involved.) Yes, Soderbergh’s remake has its goofs—the bags with the flyers; and like the original, how much weight and space millions of dollars actually occupy—but it makes an effort to give us a sense of yeah, I guess you could do that, whereas, in our opinion, the 1960 film does not. Thus giving the newbie an edge. (Or maybe it was just a simpler time back then.)

With that aside, we found the original to be quite entertaining, and possessing the right balance of levity and humor to go along with the robbery plot at hand. (Any time we get to enjoy Dino crooning his classic “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” is always a good time; and a then 26 year-old Shirley MacLaine is absolutely adorable in her cameo as the drunken cutie who kisses Dean while he tries to distract her from discovering one of his cohorts in flagrante delicto. Oh, and damn, Angie Dickinson was hot!)

There are a few significant differences between these two mainstream popcorn flicks made 40 years apart, but in our view the most notable one is the turn of events that lead to the lack of a happy ending in the original. (And no, we won’t give it away.)
While we have no qualms with the final outcome in Soderbergh’s remake, the older picture not having a Hollywood ending is a nice twist that ultimately underscored our enjoyment of it. If you liked the 2001 version, check out the Rat Pack’s with an open mind and you’ll be rewarded as well.

[Poster art courtesy of Wikipedia.]