Sorry, this movie sucks

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Lewis Milestone produced and directed this original (and highly successful) heist picture which featured an all-star cast headlined by the Rat Pack: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop as well as Angie Dickinson and Shirley MacLaine (the latter in an uncredited cameo). Its screenplay was written by Harry Brown and Charles Lederer from a story by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. Other that appear include Richard Conte, Cesar Romero, Patrice Wymore, Akim Tamiroff, Henry Silva, Norman Fell, Red Skelton (as himself) and George Raft.Sinatra plays Danny Ocean, a man addicted to danger and excitement which causes estrangement from wife Beatrice (Dickinson). His latest scheme is a grand plan to reunite his 82nd Airborne Army veteran friends – fifteen years after their acclaimed service in various World War II theaters of battle – to knock over the five main casinos (Hotel Flamingo, the Sands, Desert Inn, the Riviera, the Sahara) in Las Vegas during New Year's Eve.Among Ocean's eleven co-conspirators are Martin and Davis Jr. (who each sing a couple of songs), Lawford, Conte, Bishop, Silva and Fell; additionally there's Tamiroff, who doesn't participate in the robberies, but helped to plan and finance the operation. Lawford plays Jimmy Foster, whose soon-to-be fifth father-in-law, gangster Duke Santos (Romero), figures in the aftermath, hired by the coalition of casino managers – led by Raft's character – to find and return the stolen millions.There's a somewhat predictable twist ending.

The 2001 version of Ocean's Eleven is one of my personal favorite movies. I had put off seeing it for a while because I tend to be a bit biased against remakes. But after seeing and liking it, I was eager to see the film it was based on. I don't really know what I expected going in to see the 1960 version, but it definitely wasn't what it turned out to be. Frankly, the remake far surpasses the original. I've talked to some people about it and they have said that it is unfair to compare the two films. If you can't compare an original film to its remake, then there is something seriously wrong.The two films bear little semblance to each other, even in terms of plot. In this movie, the protagonists all conspire to rob five Las Vegas casinos at the same time. Believe it or not, this is far less complicated than the plot of the remake. The idea here is that they cut the power to Vegas, enter the casinos, take the money, and leave. That's it. It's almost an hour before they even start planning the heist, and the sequence itself lasts only about five or ten minutes. Even if the thieves in the remake targeted only one casino, the heist serves as that movie's centerpiece; in the original, it feels like an afterthought. And there's nothing really interesting about how it's done. Some gimmicks are introduced, but they don't play any major role in the long run. For example, the Eleven put infrared paint of some kind around the casinos so they can easily navigate it in the dark. Considering how small the casinos appear to be, it seems like a flashlight would have sufficed.Another problem with hitting five casinos is that the Eleven are split up into five teams. In other words, we don't really get to know them very much. In the remake, every character had some kind of unique personality or ability. In this version, only a handful of the Eleven are memorable in any way. Peter Lawford plays a ne'er-do-well wealthy mama's boy. Richard Conte plays a Walter White-type who wants to provide for his family in the aftermath of his impending death. But that's pretty much it. When the heist is being planned, the arrival of a cowboy named Jackson is made a big deal of. The guy is then completely dropped from the story and makes no further appearances of note. Does anyone honestly remember the nuances of Henry Silva's character? How about Buddy Lester--how did he distinguish himself from the other actors? Characters should be the crux of a film like this--it's kind of implied in the title, after all.The movie is also incredibly dated. Most of the "humor" is years past its sell-by date--kind of like the actors. Most of the actors in this film are in their 40s; by modern standards, they look at least 55. Despite this, they are constantly surrounded by horny women who ogle and suck up to the main cast, something that is only in the movie to show how attractive its main characters supposedly are. Frank Sinatra, who also looks far beyond his 44 years, is cheating on his wife with a dissatisfied mistress. The subplot is only mentioned a couple of times before being quickly discarded; it only seems to exist to show that Ocean is a philanderer and therefore cool by the movie's standards. The portrayal of women in this movie was silly in 1960 and is arguably the funniest thing about it now, even if it's unintentional. Most of the actors aren't given any kind of challenging material, so trying to grade their acting is futile; it doesn't offer anything memorable good or bad. But Akim Tamiroff does have something to work with: he plays the perpetually nervous man organizing the heist. He's probably the worst actor I've ever seen. Maybe he just couldn't work with the script, but he bugs his eyes out at every opportunity and whoops and hollers like a rabid chihuahua at the slightest provocation.By the end of it all I was left wondering what the point had been. A lot of questions remained unanswered. Why did Richard Conte's character die in the middle of the heist after experiencing no symptoms in the few hours prior? What's going to happen between Danny and his wife, especially considering Angie Dickinson is given such high billing? Why did they choose to leave all the money in the garbage, where it could have been found by the police or lost? Why did they hide the money from Santos in the coffin, where it could have easily been discovered by church staff? Why are nubile 20-year-old girls mindlessly throwing themselves at 40+ men, with faces like road maps of Manhattan, within seconds of meeting them? I really wanted to like this movie. The remake is one of my favorites and I was hoping this could match it. It made me realize, however, why remakes should exist: to take sub par movies with interesting premises and make them actually deliver. This is the perfect example of that.

I guess I should confess at the beginning that I'm an avid Dean Martin fan. But even having said that, this is hardly my favorite Dean Martin film. Oh yes, it's a clever little movie, but to me, the problem with the film is one major flaw -- we're supposed to root for thieves. There are no good guys in this film. They're all crooks. They blow the power going into Las Vegas, depriving everyday people of electricity, some in hospitals, some on oxygen machines, whatever. Yet, again, we are expected to root for them. Sorry, but for me, that's a bit of a problem. If there is one character that you can have a little empathy for, it's Richard Conte's character.Of course, the film also seems very dated today. Not because it's the Rat Pack...they seem almost timeless. But this is the Las Vegas of yesteryear.. Which is okay. It's just dated.And I also dislike the premise of this film -- we're swingers...aren't we just the coolest thing ever? Now I know you're thinking that hey, that guy just doesn't like the Rat Pack. Actually, that's not true. "sergeants 3" is pretty decent. "4 For Texas" is okay. I very much like "Robin & The Seven Hoods".Another problem is that for much of the film, it drags., particularly in the middle of the film.And my final complaint is that much of the film moves kind of slow with too much talk and little action.As to the cast, pretty good. Frank Sinatra is fine here as Danny Ocean, but this is about as far away from his best performances as can be; and I do think that Sinatra was a darned good actor. Dean Martin plays Dean Martin, which is pleasant enough. Sammy Davis, Jr. certainly does better here than he did in "Robin & The Seven Hoods" (where he was little more than a supporting actor); but of course, the Black guy drives the garbage trucks and picks up the stash at the dump). Peter Lawford was quite good as the spoiled rich boy. Richard Conte has the more serious role of a loser who is preparing to die and wants to leave his little boy enough money to go to college. Joey Bishop is interesting in that he plays against character -- a very self-assured cog in the machine. Angie Dickinson is here as the somewhat love interest for Frank Sinatra; not a very impressive role, but she does fine. I always enjoy seeing Cesar Romero. Akim Tamiroff is somewhat interesting as the financial backer of the effort.So, what's interesting about the film? Well, Dino singing the once banned "Ain't That A Kick In The Head". A funny cameo by Red Skelton trying to gamble. And an even funnier cameo of a drunk Shirley MacLaine flirting with Dino. It's also interesting to see a cameo by George Raft.It's a pretty average film that is less than its reputation. But it's worth watching...once...or more if you're a fan of any members of the Rat Pack.Simply because it's a Dean Martin film I recently purchased the Blu-Ray version. It's a very nice transfer.

I love time capsule movies. Something that takes you back to an actual place and time, that is shot on location, not a studio…so you actual feel your you are experiencing a certain time and place, with authentic clothing, hair styles and hearing the colloquialisms used at the time. "Oceans 11" does 2 things well. It takes you back in time to Las Vegas, 1960, that has little resemblance to today's Vegas of monumental skyscraper resorts, owned by multi-national corporations. 1960 Vegas was only about a decade after Bugsy Siegel had his vision of turning the Flamingo Hotel and consequently the LV strip into a vacation mecca for adults to drink, dine, catch top entertainment and above all legally gamble, in comparatively plush surroundings.O-11 also lets you in for a look at the dichotomy of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack in 1960, when Sinatra was the king of cool and entertainment and the Pack, the Clan, whatever you want to call them, were at their pinnacle and Vegas was their playground, courtesy of the mob, who knew Frank, Dino and Sammy would bring in the high rollers. Less than a decade earlier Sinatra looked like he was washed up. He was having trouble with his voice, MGM dropped him and he had abandoned his wife and 3 kids for Ava Gardner. Sinatra's voice came back and he made some critically acclaimed albums, plus a number of excellent movie roles, displaying his versatility in musicals, comedy and drama. Dean Martin had gotten tired of being Jerry Lewis' straight man and had made a successful transition to a solo act, as had Sammy Davis who had left the Will Mastin Trio earlier in the decade. Peter Lawford had been a contract player at MGM, usually getting a lead in their college musicals. He was dumped by MGM in the early 50's and probably headed to career oblivion until he married into the Kennedy family in 1954. He was no pal of Sinatra's, having been one of Ava Gardner's many lovers. But "brother-in-Lawford" would allow Frank an access to hang out with JFK, who was about to go out on the biggest stage of all in 1960. Which in turn made Lawford a member in highest standing at the time and he may actually have the largest part in O-11.Sinatra is Danny Ocean, who was a Sergeant in the 82nd Airborne. As for the rest of his background, we know he likes to gamble and he likes danger, as we are reminded by Angie Dickinson, playing his estranged wife Bea, "There's only one thing you love, Danny: that's danger. Cliffhanging. You could never love a woman like you love danger." O-11 is loaded with plenty of terrible dialogue, similar to this. Lawford is playing a spoiled rich kid, who was an officer in their unit, although he is clearly subservient to Sinatra's Ocean. Dino is a Vegas lounge singer (he knocks out a great version of "Ain't That Kick In the Head") and Sammy is the world's most talented garbage man. As for the rest of the 11, with the exception of Richard Conte, playing an ex-con who just found out he's terminal with lung cancer ("look Doc, give it to me straight-is it the big casino?") their roles aren't really too important. Although Buddy Lester, playing Vince who is now an MC at a strip club does have an entertaining bit. After we see a rather fleshy stripper named Lolita dancing with a boa constrictor, Vince introduces his wife, another dancer named Honeyface. After Frank and Lawford let Vince in on their plan for the heist, he expresses some concern about the feasibility of it. "Think of me dead." To which Sinatra actually replies -"Oh stop talking like a kid." Indeed, even when Dino expresses concern about how sensible it would be to rob casinos run by the mob (in an era when pit bosses would routinely have card counters hands broken) this is ridiculed by Lawford, "some guys grow old without turning chicken." Of course, eventually everyone is all in on the heist. They pull it off without anyone getting hurt, except for Conte who falls over dead on the strip from a heart attack. And after Frank and Lawford witness this, Frank gives some orders to Lawford, telling him to do this, etc. Peter turns to Dino and says in another bit of unintended bad dialogue "He's taking it very hard." O-11 also has a good bit by Cesar Romero, as Duke Santos, a reformed mobster who is squiring Lawford's rich divorced mother. Duke gets hired by the casinos to recover their stolen loot. There are also cameos by George Raft (who was a close friend of Siegel) Red Skelton (playing a himself] and Shirley McClaine has a cute bit with Dino as a drunk on the town on NY Eve. As for the Rat Pack, who were also doing their act at night while filming in the daytime, they have one thoroughly unfunny scene standing around a pool table that sounds like a routine from their act. Made a famous photo though. In any case, if you can tolerate the silly dialogue, it is fun to revisit the Rat Pack at their peak an era when tobacco was considered a vegetable and a cocktail went with anything at any time.