Full Frontal (Released in 2002) - Disappointing movie - Starring Catherine Keener, David Duchovny, Julia Roberts, Mary McCormack, Brad Pitt

Released in 2002, Full Frontal is a blurry and confusing depiction of Hollywood. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the movie is far from what the audience expects. Trying to explain the lives of various Hollywood characters, the movie blurs the line between what is real and what is fiction, by having shot a movie in a movie! And if that didn’t get you confused enough the narration in the movie is nothing but ambiguous.
To muddle a complicated storyline further, the movie was shot in a record time of a month, that too on digital video with a Canon XL-1s. Starring Julia Roberts, Catherine Keener, Brad Pitt, David Duchovny, Mary McCormack and David Hyde Pierce, the film feels extremely amateurish. To the extent, that the actors’ professionalism seems to be it’s only saving grace.
A skilled director, known for his talents as a cinematographer, Steven Soderbergh has created a movie which resembles a piece of work submitted by a film school student. The digital camerawork, and utilization of only naturally available light sources, has given the movie a dull, dark and blotchy quality. The plot is a film inside another film, and added to this is a documentary about the “people” in the outside film.




The movie is about a journalist (played by Julia Roberts) who interviews the famous Blaire Underwood. Then there are Lee and Carl (played by Catherine Keener and David Hyde Pierce), who play a happily married couple. In some scenes Lee seems to be deranged and unstable, while in the next scene she seems to be having serious conversations with her sister - a masseuse, over lunch. Her sister Linda (played by McCormack) goes on to meet Gus (played by David Duchovny), a producer, who hires Linda for a massage, and is willing to pay her extra to help him relieve tension!
Linda seems to be in need of money, as she has to meet a guy who she met on the Internet. Meanwhile Carl gets fired from work and heads home to find that his dog has overdosed on hash brownies. The plot could not get more bizarre even if Soderbergh tried. It’s not only impossible but also impractical to try and sort out the scenes. Where some scenes are voice over narrations in a documentary, other scenes are dramatic works of fiction.
Most of the scenes look like improvisations done by the actors, with no sense of continuation. The scenes that are slightly enjoyable, like those of McCormack, are so because of the actor’s skills and not the director’s talents. The movie in a movie scenes are shot on glossy 35mm film. This only brings out the stark contrast between the scenes, and leaves the viewer yearning for more of the lush and glossy scenes in place of the digital ones.
It a huge lesson in humility, that a man with many a success to his name and immense directorial skills, has shot and directed such a huge let down. You leave the movie feeling not only confused, but glad that it is over.

Ocean's Twelve (Released in 2004) - Successful sequel to con movie - Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy García, Julia Roberts

The 2004 sequel to the world acclaimed multi starrer Ocean’s Eleven; Ocean’s Twelve is yet another super entertaining piece by Steven Soderbergh. Even as most movies with heist escapades end with the thieves or con men going into well-earned retirement, most sequels to such movies begin with how the dapper con men are forced to come out of retirement for one or the other reason and perform one more long con.
In Ocean’s Twelve, the reason for the flamboyant eleven being pulled out from enjoying their spoils is Terry Benedict, played by Andy Garcia – the man from whom Danny Ocean and his boys had stolen $160 million in the previous movie. Now Terry has managed to track down the eleven and has demanded that they return his money, plus interest worth $38 million, unless they want to be turned over to US Authorities. Terry personally goes to meet each and every one of the members and makes it clear to them that they have exactly 2 weeks to return his money.  
With time running out, the group decides to stage a heist in Europe to avoid further problems with the US Authorities. Danny is tipped off about the location of the first stock certificate ever published, by an informant named Matsui, played by Robbie Coltrane. However, their elaborate plans are foiled by another master thief who goes by the name of Night Fox. To make matters worse, Europol Detective Isabel Lahiri, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, is investigating the theft. Rusty (Brad Pitt) and her had a relationship a long time ago. She realizes that her conversations with him must have given him the idea of how to steal the certificate. She turns up unannounced at the group’s accommodations and warns them that she is on to them, and that they cannot hope to beat either the Night Fox, or his Mentor the mysterious LeMarc.
If the plot wasn’t already getting complicated, then here’s more. The Night Fox, who turns out to be Baron Francois Toulour, played by Vincent Cassel, a wealthy businessman, invites Danny to his mansion. After bragging to Danny about how he has been a step ahead of him the whole time, he goes on to crib about how he is offended that LeMarc doesn’t think of him - Toulour as the greatest thief ever. He challenges Danny to steal the famous Faberge Imperial Coronation Egg, and promises Danny that if he and his gang win, then he will pay off Danny’s debt to Terry Benedict.




Danny hires one more in his group, now making the count twelve. What follows is an elaborately planned heist, complete with holographic representations. However, when the plan goes haywire and half the members of Danny’s group are in prison, Linus (Matt Damon) creates a new plan which gets Tess Ocean involved. With cameo roles of not one but 2 actors – Bruce Willis playing himself and Julia Roberts (who is Tess in the movie) playing Julia Roberts for the Heist, the plot gets only more entertaining. Needless to say, Linus’s plan is foiled and now everyone lands up in jail.
Enter the FBI agent, played by Cherry Jones, who has come to extradite the group to the US. It turns out she is Linus’s mother and helps them get out of prison. But, if you are thinking even for a moment, that Ocean and his twelve con men did not get the Faberge egg, you are wrong. Not only do they get the egg, which is elaborately explained by Danny and Tess, in a narrative and flash back sequence, to Toulour, but they also managed to wipe the smug expression of Toulour’s face. Toulour as promised pays the money owed by Danny, to Terry Benedict and Danny promises to steer clear of Terry in the future.
In the end, Rusty takes Lahiri to a safe house that he claims was left to him by LeMarc, where she is reunited with her father, who turns out to be LeMarc himself. The final scene shows Rusty taking Lahiri to a private poker game where the entire group has reunited to enjoy themselves.
In the movie, it doesn’t matter what priceless treasure they stole or how they stole it. What matters is the behavior, dialogues and star power that each actor brings with him. With at least fifteen big names running around the silver screen enjoying themselves in panache and style, one can only wonder as to the number of actors starring in the next sequel. Also, where most movies highlight the implausibility of the script in a bad way, Ocean’s Twelve only makes you enjoy the unrealistic scenarios played out here. Soderbergh has as always done a wonderful job to highlight the strong points of the movie, namely the charm and smooth talking style of its actors like Clooney, Pitt and Catharine Zeta-Jones.
While some of the heists planned seem unrealistic, the movie is not so much about the heist, as it is about fun and frolic created by Soderbergh and his merry band of actors. Overall, Ocean’s Twelve is an entertaining movie which urges the viewer to root for the con men and their escapades.

Ocean's Eleven (Released in 2001) - Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts

A remake of a 1960’s movie with the same name which starred Frank Sinatra and his Rat pack, Ocean’s Eleven is an American comedy about a group of guys who are brought together by Danny Ocean to plan a heist. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the movie is fun, entertaining and slick. It is a fine example of what happens when a serious accomplished director decides to venture into some “over the top” quirkiness.
The movie has an impressive star cast, with Danny Ocean being played by Mr. Smooth and Sauvé – George Clooney, and his better half Tess Ocean is played by one of the few actresses who can hold her own next to Clooney – Julia Roberts. Not to be left out, Ocean’s eleven include superstars like Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Casey Affleck, Elliott Gould and Turk Malloy.
The movie opens with Danny, who is fresh out of prison, and eager for a job. He gets in touch with his trusted sidekick, Rusty, played by Brad Pitt. Together they chalk up a plan to steal $ 160 million from not one but three casinos in Las Vegas, namely The Bellagio, The Mirage and The MGM Grand. They get together a team to help them with this job. The team comprises of a talented acrobat, con artists, a techie, a pick pocket, gifted mechanic and an electronics and surveillance expert.




Rubin, a senior con artist, played by Elliot Gould, is initially reluctant to help because he knows how tight casino security usually is. However, with a chance to get back at Terry Benedict, the Casino owner, played by Andy Garcia he jumps on board to finance the whole operation. While some of the members recon the casinos, the others get into making exact life size replicas of the casino vault floors.
On one of the recon missions, Rusty finds Tess Ocean walking with Terry Benedict, the guy they are about to rob. He confronts Danny and asks him whether this entire heist is about her. Danny replies that it is of course about her. It is about stealing from his ex- wife’s new boyfriend and trying to get her back in the process. However, George Clooney and Brad Pitt pull off, even a confrontation, with style.
When the plan is set and everything is in motion, as a viewer you feel like rooting for the con men. Not for any other reason but the sheer panache and flair with which they pull of a very detailed and intricate plan. In the end, Danny gets Tess back, by proving to her that Terry prizes his money more than he does her. Mind you, nothing is done simplistically in this movie. Every scene and every dialogue has a certain smooth talker style and élan which could only have been accomplished by Ted Griffin’s style of dialogues and screenplay.
As far as the heist goes, there have been movies with more fastidiously planned con jobs. But in Ocean’s Eleven, one does not go for the heist. They go for the super smooth dialogue delivery and an end which doesn’t involve a shootout, but a rather exquisitely planned heist which goes off exactly as Danny and his boys had planned – with finesse.
The movie is nothing like the usual Soderbergh movies, but it is an entertaining enjoyable watch never the less.