Film Review: "Ocean's 8" (2018).

"The plan is priceless" in Ocean's 8. This heist comedy film directed by Gary Ross and written by Ross and Olivia Milch. It is a a spin-off of Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy. Five years, eight months, 12 days...and counting. That’s how long Debbie Ocean has been devising the biggest heist of her life. She knows what it’s going to take—a team of the best in their field, starting with her partner-in-crime Lou Miller. Together, they recruit a crew of specialists: jeweler Amita; street con Constance; expert fence Tammy; hacker Nine Ball; and fashion designer Rose. The target is a cool $150 million dollars in diamonds—diamonds that will be around the neck of world-famous actress Daphne Kluger, who will be centerstage at the event of the year, the Met Gala. The plan is rock solid, but everything will need to be flawless if the team is going to get in and get away with the ice. All in plain sight.

In 2007, after the release of Ocean's Thirteen, Soderbergh stated that there would not be an Ocean's Fourteen, noting that George Clooney wanted "to go out strong" with the third film, he also cited the recent death of Bernie Mac. However, as of October 2015, a female focused spin-off, with Sandra Bullock to star, was in development. By October 2016, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Awkwafina, Richard Armitage, and James Corden rounded out the film's cast. Matt Damon and Carl Reiner were set to reprise their respective characters Linus Caldwell and Saul Bloom, but their scenes were cut. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in March 2017. Filming took place around New York City under the working title of Linus.

The film featured an ensemble cast that includes Bullock, Blanchett, Hathaway, Kaling, Paulson, Rihanna, Bonham Carter, Awkwafina, Armitage, and Corden. Terrific performances were given the cast, with each of the eight ladies playing their part beautifully. Bullock makes a fine leader of the group, though doesn't quite live up to Clonney's. Paulson makes a great confident and voice-of-reason for Bullock. Awkwafina just steals the show whenever she appears on screen.

Ocean's 8 does an impressive job of standing on its own as a freewheeling, marvelously cast supernatural comedy - even if it can't help but pale somewhat in comparison with the classic original. The mean-spirited reception to the film before anyone had seen it does not seem to have put a dampener on the movie itself. At times, the film is one of those big-studio offerings that can be enjoyable, and it can be disposable fun. However, at times, it feels like a safe, flavourless recipe prepared from gourmet ingredients. The film's lazy script that takes forever to get going" and uninspired heist sequence. It would have been great to report that the finished film is good enough to shut the bigoted naysayers up once and for all. But the harsh truth is that it isn't. In the end, the film was generally likeable but uneven.

Simon says Ocean's 8 receives:

Also, see my review for Free State of Jones.