By JASON GUYER
iRate
In the last year many ideas have been pitched for a few all-woman-cast remakes/reboots of major films or film franchises. This wonderful concept was meant to shake up the movie business and bring some originality to a business lacking it. Albeit, in a very Hollywood way; originality without actually being original.
Last year there was the all-female-cast “Ghostbusters” reboot, a film I particularly found interesting and funny. This year the all-female-cast film is “Ocean’s 8.”
As the younger sister of Danny Ocean (George Clooney), Debbie (Sandra Bullock) attempts to live up to the family name and pull off the heist of the century.She plans to steal a rare and expensive necklace from New York City’s star-studded annual Met Gala.
Like any good heist film it all starts with the crew. Lou (Cate Blanchett), Rose (Helena Bonham Carter), Nine Ball (Rihanna), Tammy (Sarah Paulson), Amita (Mindy Kaling), and Constance (Awkwafina) make up the crew.
The crew is the most significant part of a heist film and the part that matters most. They have to have continuity all the while challenging each other. Debbie Ocean’s crew has both and that becomes the best part of “Ocean’s 8.” Sandra Bullock is all class as the lead character and the leader of the crew.
Bullock commands every scene she is in with the subtle grace and commanding presence a good con has to have. Bullock shows on screen how a good con person becomes a great con person. Bullock’s Debbie Ocean is always in control even when it seems like the character gives that control up, She knows when to be upfront, when to stay back, and even when to side step when necessary. As “ The Big Bang Theory’s” Rajesh Koothrappali said, “Sandy B always brings it.”
One of my favorites from “Ocean’s 8” is the always eccentric Helena Bonham Carter. Carter’s character Rose Weil is the most interesting of the bunch and is a character built for Helena Bonham Carter. Carter is very eccentric in life and always picks roles that allow herself to bring that out. Rose is no different and Carter hits a home run playing her. Rose is the perfect introverted oddball character in a group of veteran criminals and strong personalities. Carter makes Rose an integral part of the crew and the one member you are least likely to forget.
Rihanna is, well Rihanna, a larger than life personality that is no less in “Ocean’s 8.” Nine ball, who Rihanna plays, is a wise cracking Rastafarian computer hacker. Rihanna felt as though she had fewer scenes than most of the other characters but in true Rihanna fashion, she makes her presence known. Rihanna should and hopefully will get more acting jobs and screen time, she is getting better at acting and more deserving of the roles she gets.
Watch her in “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” as Bubble and here in “Ocean’s 8” and you’ll see it too. My favorite character in “Ocean’s 8” goes to “the mark,” or better put the person the crew is about to steal from.
“The mark” is Daphne Kluger who is beautifully characterized by Anne Hathaway. The Met-Gala is the star-studded backdrop and Kluger is the star. Hathaway’s Kluger conceptualizes every demoralizing, marginalizing, and dehumanizing trope the general public believes about the “Hollywood elite” types. Hopefully it was done on purpose and meant as a satirical commentary on such tropes, as often seems the case throughout the entirety of “Ocean’s 8.”
For an actress of Hathaway’s caliber and whose career was catapulted by playing an eventual princess. Who was often marginalized into being that “princess,” this role makes a point especially towards the end of the film. Hathaway is a perfect choice to make that point, and she makes it with class.
Setting in place. Actors in place. Characters in place. Crew in place. There is only one thing left to make or break “Ocean’s 8,” the heist. In the original rat pack “Ocean’s 11” and the Clooney remake “Ocean’s 11,” it is all about the plan. How good is the heist? What happens and when? The twist is inevitable but is it good?
There are all good questions for “Ocean’s 8” and all questions whose answer will define “Ocean’s 8.” The crew is absolutely the biggest part of any heist film. You have to have a good team. “Ocean’s 8” has a great team. Even with a great team though, you have to give them something to do. That something to do also has to be worth it. That is where “Ocean’s 8” falls short.
The heist should be the story and the best part of the story your characters are telling. In “Ocean’s 8” the characters are the best part and they tell a mediocre story. The heist story is never quite as smart as it thinks it is and the audience can see that.
“Ocean’s 8” tries to treat it like it is smart and worthwhile but it is really predictable. Even the inevitable twist is obvious and the only obvious way the heist even works. Plus, nearly impossible for it to work without the twist. Then the hitch they add to the twist, the one that doubles the financial cut of each crew member, is even more obvious. Why wouldn’t a thief do that.
The crew and every actor playing each character does so with verve, grace, and class. Sass is what I wanted and what the film lacked. Sass comes from the heist, the hitch, and especially the twist. That is where you you get to be bold, presumptuous, intelligent, or even insolent. Therse are all things “Ocean’s 8” lacks and its great characters deserved to get from the film.
In the “Ocean’s” film franchise the heist is what gives life to those great iconic characters and how each hitch or twist in the film and each heist in totality comes together in the end.
For “Ocean’s 8” in the end, it is all class and no sass.
IRATE SCORE: 3.5/5
Jason Guyer is an avid moviegoer and works in the Graphics Department at the Eagle Times. For questions or comments he can be emailed at [email protected]
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