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The Rewatchables ·

Ocean's Eleven

year 2001decade 00sdirector Steven Soderberghgenre Drama
host Chris Ryanhost Juliet Litmanhost Sean Fennesseyhost Amanda Dobbins
All 13 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 19:47

The poker scene

The category is hard for this film because it is defined by flow rather than individual scenes, and the heist itself goes on without distinguished scenes, so the nominees are top-heavy: the poker scene including Danny Ocean's entrance and banter, Ruben's introduction with the three Vegas robbery attempts scored to Take My Breath Away, Clooney's this-is-how-we're-gonna-do-it monologue, and the Claire de Lune montage of the guys looking at the fountain.

Claire de Lune has been one host's alarm sound for ten years, a beautiful way to wake up thinking about the eleven career criminals staring at a fountain; it is called the most iconic scene, very still with few faces, the band breaking up, a beautiful end note on a well-executed heist; a running bit insists the show will not be celebrating a movie about bad people.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 55:47

"does he make you laugh?"

The Danny and Tess exchange, does he make you laugh answered with he doesn't make me cry, with an incredible line reading by Julia; Danny's house-always-wins speech, joked to be headed for Sean's tombstone, with Rusty's did-you-practice-that follow-up as part of its greatness.

The film

Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh · Drama

116 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

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Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

12:44

Casting What-Ifs

Luke and Owen Wilson as the Malloy brothers; Joel and Ethan Coen as the Malloys; Ralph Fiennes as Terry Benedict; Ala...

Luke and Owen Wilson as the Malloy brothers; Joel and Ethan Coen as the Malloys; Ralph Fiennes as Terry Benedict; Alan Arkin as Saul; Mike Myers attached; Johnny Depp as Linus; Mark Wahlberg as Linus; Bruce Willis as Danny Ocean

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:12:44Read transcript
  • Luke and Owen Wilson were originally slated to play the Malloy brothers, eventually played by Scott Kahn (as transcribed) and Casey Affleck; they could not do the movie because they had to shoot Tenenbaums, and two of the hosts spent ten minutes on this the day before.
  • The Wilsons would have been an infusion of Bottle Rocket, but more twee, with more emphasis on the pitter patter of their speech; they also had bigger profiles in 2001 than Kahn and Affleck and might have taken shine from the top three, like needing an Iguodala and a David West on the roster.
  • Owen can play dumb better than Luke; the Mormon twins' gags are supposed to be stupid so you laugh at and with them, and the Wilsons might have made it too pretentious or arch; this is the only what-if one host would have been okay with, since the brothers are comic relief, and the hosts are glad Tenenbaums got made.
  • Joel and Ethan Coen were reportedly also up for the Malloy brothers; one host wants documentation because the Coens in front of the camera seems implausible, while another likes it given the stories of them living with Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand after college, but agrees it is too inside-joke.
  • Ralph Fiennes, whom one host presumed was up for Basher on the strength of In Bruges, was actually one of three possible Terry Benedicts; he has done villains, including he who shall not be named; as Benedict it would scramble the allegiances because it is too close to English Patient and you might want Julia to be with Ray Files (as transcribed), when you need to be on Danny's side.
  • Alan Arkin was originally going to play Saul, the role played by Carl Reiner, which would have been fine; Mike Myers was attached to the cast; one of the earliest articles about Brad Pitt circling the film, a 2000 Hollywood Reporter Variety piece, has Johnny Depp playing Linus.
  • One host is against Depp, enjoying him only in What's Eating Over Grape (as transcribed) and finding the rest overacting; another was a fan in 2000, before Willy Wonka and Pirates of the Caribbean, but not at the right frequency for this movie: a darkness, the same handsome vibe as Pitt, and impossible to picture in glasses, a baseball hat and a parka in Chicago getting dunked on, since he never wants to blend in and would want to be bald with a snaggle tooth.
  • Mark Wahlberg was also attached to play Linus and had a weird reaction after the fact; a question to Amanda about the Julia Roberts role turns up no other what-ifs.
  • Bruce Willis was reportedly, on specious evidence, in contention for Danny Ocean, which would be an entirely different movie because Clooney anchors the whole thing; his absence set up a favorite Ocean's 12 cameo, where he arrives mid-heist while Julia Roberts' Tess is pretending to be Julia Roberts, with a SpongeBob pillow, as commentary on 2000s celebrity; the hosts are glad he turned the role down, and Ocean's 12 made one like Julia Roberts even more.
  • Earlier, in the intro: Mark Wahlberg, initially slated to play Linus, was salty after release, saying he went off and made Planet of the Apes and The Truth About Charlie, which both sucked, rather than sit around patting George on the back.
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31:33

Half-Assed Internet Research

Soderbergh considered shooting in black and white; the code names (Boski, Jim Brown, Miss Daisy, two Jethros, Leon Sp...

Soderbergh considered shooting in black and white; the code names (Boski, Jim Brown, Miss Daisy, two Jethros, Leon Spinks, Ella Fitzgerald) all appear in the movie; Clooney sent Julia Roberts the script with a $20 bill; Don Cheadle is unbilled after a billing dispute, resolved in 12 and 13

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:33Read transcript
  • Soderbergh considered shooting the film in black and white; one host would have liked that, but it would lose pops of color like her jacket at the boxing match, would not have been as mainstream successful since it is a popcorn flick, and would change the commentary on celebrity and make it more moody.
  • The code names in the we're-going-to-need speech are all represented in the movie: a Boski (as transcribed), after the Wall Street fraudster, is Reiner's con man Saul; the Jim Brown is the Bernie Mac bit; Miss Daisy is the getaway vehicle; the two Jethro's are the Molloy's (as transcribed); Leon Spinks refers to doing something during a boxing match; the Ella Fitzgerald is the videotaped robbery, after her 1970s Memorex commercial with the tagline is it live or is it Memorex; credit to Ted Griffin.
  • Roberts, coming off Aaron Brogovich (as transcribed), was probably the biggest movie star in the world making $20 million a movie; when Clooney sent her the script he attached a note reading I hear you're getting 20 a picture now, with a $20 bill inside, and of course he called it a picture.
  • Not much drama surrounds the movie, but Don Cheadle was not psyched about his placement and billing; he has said he would have done it for free but is glad he did not; he is famously unbilled, his name absent from the credits, which was resolved in 12 and 13 by placing him alongside Damon, Clooney and Pitt; as one of two black actors in the film, his fight for recognizability is interesting.
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48:34

Picking Nits

How the heist works, walked through; the rebuilt vault sits within sight of the Bellagio fountains; the bouncer pound...

How the heist works, walked through; the rebuilt vault sits within sight of the Bellagio fountains; the bouncer pounds on Clooney for 30 to 40 minutes; the casinos would never allow filming inside, so vaults cannot work this way; casino cash disperses quickly; no casino would call a SWAT team or trust one British consultant; only about three security guards; Lyman Zerga's access to Benedict is debated; the heist still stands up under the stress test

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:34Read transcript
  • One host never completely understood how the heist worked and paid closer attention the night before than in thirty other viewings; the walkthrough begins: they rebuild what they presume is the Bellagio vault in a warehouse from captured footage and the blueprints.
  • First nitpick: the rebuilt vault appears to be no more than 300 feet from the actual Bellagio, with the fountains visible behind it, which Vegas surveillance would catch; the counter is that this is pre-boom real estate, the Strip is less than two miles with open land everywhere, and in any case it is a movie and movie logic is accepted.
  • The rebuilt vault is a misdirection, since the audience thinks they are practicing; they stage their own heist on film, carrying bags marked with an X, the technician cuts that loop into the security system during the blackout on fight night, Terry Benedict presumes it is live, a SWAT team is called, the call is intercepted and the eleven arrive as the SWAT team and rob the vault while Benedict believes the robbers are still inside.
  • The blackout exists to change the footage the security team sees, hence the Ella Fitzgerald, and to kill the lasers while Clooney and Damon go down the real elevator shaft with the guy in the cart; Basher needs the electromagnetic pulse machine underground; a favorite rediscovery is Pitt talking to Terry Benedict while wearing a SWAT uniform.
  • The entire heist depends on Matt Damon pickpocketing Terry Benedict in the interrogation room and on the specific bouncer selling a beating on George Clooney for what seems like 30 to 40 minutes without anyone asking how he is not dead; if any of it goes differently the whole thing is off.
  • The ultimate nitpick: the movie only exists because casinos agreed to let it film inside, so this cannot be how casino vaults work; nobody knows what is inside one, and the money is dispersed quickly to many locations; no casino would entrust its security to one cool British guy, none would call a SWAT team rather than its own people, and there are essentially three security guys, the same one manning cameras, watching the vault and calling the doctor who turns out to be Brad Pitt.
  • In Vegas now you have to show a room key to reach the elevator bank at night; sneaking through doors like Scott Kahn and Casey Affleck, or hacking a casino's computer system, would probably end your life.
  • The Lyman Zerga part is confusing, and someone with no credentials or known identity getting that much time with a casino owner is doubted; the counter is that Vegas is vapid enough that pretending to have money gets you where you want, but Terry Benedict is established as handling every matter himself and knowing every whale, so would he delegate an unknown object entering his vault from a possible arms dealer, and Google existed in 2001; still, the heist stands up under the stress test, its confusing nature helps it, and it never gets too deep in the weeds.
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