Ocean's 8 (2018)
June 7, 2018 9:39 PM - Subscribe

Debbie Ocean gathers a crew to attempt an impossible heist at New York City's yearly Met Gala.

"Here, as before, theft is a sexy calling and a near obligation, a service that the beautiful and the cool provide as they steal from the greedier, stupider and far less deserving." (NY Times)

"I left Ocean’s 8 more convinced than ever that no amount of fierce, fantastic female ensembles can overcome the mediocrity of a dull male director." (Vulture)

For me, better than Ocean's 13, but below the admittedly high-water mark of Ocean's 11...
posted by praemunire (26 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I found the script weak and the pacing a bit weird -- but still really enjoyed it. The cast was just so good and the heist was fun and I had a grin on my face the whole time. Never would've picked Anne Hathaway as the big laugh-getter (at least at my screening) but there you go.
posted by retrograde at 12:41 AM on June 8, 2018 [3 favorites]


I haven't seen this, but I have to do a quick rant. I saw some review on I think the AV Club or something where the pull quote was like "lacks the substance of the originals". And I'm just like... what fucking substance, man? Ocean's 11-13 were the definition of empty filler. Just a nice reminder that even a relatively-less-shitty outlet like AV Club can dive all the way into some double-standard bullshit sometimes.
posted by tobascodagama at 6:15 AM on June 8, 2018 [10 favorites]


I saw it last night and found it to be super fun - yeah, the script was sometimes pretty weak and there were transitions that could have been done better, but it was still a good, fun, heist film with an amazing cast and a lot of cute little cameos. Awkwafina was probably my favorite, but everyone was great.

Plus the dresses! All of the costuming in this was fantastic.
posted by dinty_moore at 6:26 AM on June 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


The substance? Ocean's 11 is the world's most perfectly-crafted soap bubble. I adore it, but Antony Blanche's little speech about Sebastian's charm in Brideshead Revisited could be applied to it without modifications.
posted by praemunire at 8:01 AM on June 8, 2018 [7 favorites]


Speaking of the costuming, I was impressed at how they managed to give Cate Blanchett a sort of Patti Smith-ish vibe without annoying the hell out of me. (I don't dislike Patti Smith per se, but that whole boomer "I'm gonna wear a lot of bangles and a motorcycle jacket 'cause I'm a Rebel Poet" thing irritates me in men and women.)

Oddly, I thought Rihanna's dress was the weakest.
posted by praemunire at 8:03 AM on June 8, 2018 [7 favorites]


They talked up the super frilly collars from the designer's past, and then had her design for a European royalty-inspired event, and we didn't get even one ruffle! I had my hopes up so high!

Really enjoyed it, overall, despite the lack of ridiculous costumey evening wear.
posted by meese at 10:50 PM on June 8, 2018 [6 favorites]


Breezy and entertaining enough while you're watching it, but zero narrative tension, and WTF is James Corden doing in it?

meese: Yeah, big collars were a weird choice when the whole point of the movie was to put a huge ugly necklace on display around Anne Hathaway's neck.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 11:48 AM on June 9, 2018 [2 favorites]


Perhaps what the critic meant was that they, as I, never felt there real stakes in Oceans 8. There was no sense of risk; I never felt there was any real danger to anyone of violence or imprisonment. I never doubted the gang would succeed, and with one minor exception, everything progressed as if on rails. It's been years since I watched 11,but that's not how I remember that movie.

Also, what's with Bullock's acting? I remember her with a wonderfully expressive face, but here it was if she was wearing a Noh mask.
posted by mojohand at 6:59 PM on June 9, 2018 [4 favorites]


Second-best Ocean’s movie. Of course there was no narrative tension — heist movies are about how, not whether, and of course Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett aren’t going to jail when George Clooney and Brad Pitt didn’t.
posted by Etrigan at 7:01 PM on June 9, 2018 [14 favorites]


Of course our heros are going to pull off the heist in the end (though not quite always, c.f. Topaki) but a good caper movie gives the audience the thrilling illusion that it could all go wrong. This was not a such a movie.

I don't mean to break a butterfly on the wheel. It was a good enough way to spend a Friday evening. I was amused.
posted by mojohand at 7:11 PM on June 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


Whoops, the 1960s heist movie that may or may not work out so hot for the thieves is, of course, Topkapi. Recommended.
posted by mojohand at 7:26 PM on June 9, 2018


here it was if she was wearing a Noh mask.

bohtox
posted by Sebmojo at 1:10 AM on June 10, 2018 [5 favorites]


This was not the greatest heist film evar, but it was a big darned fun heist film. And I have been so craving heist and caper entertainment full of women. Love 9 Ball's kid sister, too - a radio nerd on a fire escape full of antennae. Love Lou's bikes (right-side shift classic British iron!). Rolled my eyes at the password cracking box, but LOVED the spearphishing. Adored the chemistry between Bullock and Blanchett. Helena Bonham Carter has shifted from "disheveled" to "disheveled drunken fairy queen" here, I think. And I'm so pleased that we find out that Daphne isn't actually anywhere as stupid as she initially appears to be.

On a meta-level, it sounds like the film making process was big fun for the stars, too. The anecdote from Hathaway included in this tweet is adorable.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:24 AM on June 10, 2018 [7 favorites]


Just got back from seeing it for my birthday. We all really enjoyed it - there were enough little humorous bits scattered throughout, even if the whole movie wasn't as punchy as O11. Loved the actresses. The pacing was a bit weird - after the fun of the heist it felt like things kept going for a bit longer than they needed to, like something was needed to fill the gap between the successful heist and then the second reveal. James Cordon was fun but it all should have been tighter, I think. It was a small fun delight and everybody looked like they were having the best time.
posted by PussKillian at 8:04 PM on June 10, 2018 [1 favorite]


I thought this was a lot of fun, even if it didn't have much tension i/r/t whether the heist would work out or not. Helena Bonham Carter poking fun at her own persona while doing the Vivienne Westwood/Betsey Johnson hybrid character gave me a great big "FREE FROM THE YOKE OF TIM BURTON HOORAY" feeling. And the "sweet little old ladies" cameos made me cheer.
posted by queensissy at 11:28 AM on June 11, 2018 [6 favorites]


I enjoyed it, but it fell a bit flat for me. Others have mentioned the pacing, which I absolutely agree with - you could tell that Steven Soderbergh didn't direct this one; it wasn't nearly as punchy or snappy. But one thing that really stood out to me was the lack of music/scoring. Part of the appeal of the Clooney trilogy was the perfectly timed scoring - it really added to the mood - but this one was actually too quiet. It felt like the score of a much more serious movie, which meant that some of the fluffy lines kind of fell flat.

Really liked Awkwafina and Anne Hathaway, and liked Sarah Paulson a lot too. I was glad that Rihanna's character was fairly understated. Loved the older actress bit at the end! and enjoyed the cameos by 2 of Danny's gang.

Overall a B for me. Solid effort, many enjoyable moments but not the sparkle of the Clooney movies.
posted by widdershins at 12:53 PM on June 11, 2018 [1 favorite]


I saw it again yesterday evening--a bigger crowd than opening (Thursday) night, I think, and very responsive. I think it must be getting good word of mouth. I actually enjoyed it more this time through (which to me suggests modest pacing issues--on this viewing, I was primed for the humor). I just wish Debbie and Lou had had somewhat snappier banter. Danny and Rusty's patter is the heart of the boys' version, and I would have liked their own take.
posted by praemunire at 9:11 AM on June 13, 2018 [1 favorite]


This was fun and silly. I like when Anne Hathaway's character was telling her story at dinner about trying to curtsey - that's a bit of meta humor playing off her early work in The Princess Diaries.
posted by jeoc at 3:40 PM on June 13, 2018 [2 favorites]


I enjoyed every bit of this movie and it was exactly what I wanted. I'm looking for how they did it, I have no real interest in the fake tension about will they get caught. I want to see the small details we missed when they did the setup.

More media that just has no place for men please.
posted by jeather at 7:20 PM on June 13, 2018 [3 favorites]


My favorite detail: When the camera follows the necklace down underwater into the dishwater, the music on the score goes muffled, as if it's source music that's actually playing in the kitchen.
posted by doctornecessiter at 7:30 AM on June 14, 2018 [6 favorites]


Does anyone know what was on the handwritten list Debbie kept with her, and was crossing off items? Were those names of all the various cons the heist would require them to pull off?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 10:10 AM on July 2, 2018


Yes, I think that's what the list was.

I just saw it tonight, in a theater that was still very full, which I thought was a good sign.

I agree with the general criticism that there never seemed to be any high stakes chance of failure -- the only real hiccough is a magnet, a problem so minor that it could apparently be solved by a child -- but I also agree with those who said it was really fun. I love a good heist movie, and while this was not a great heist movie, it was certainly a good one, and the cast is terrific.

My only serious disappointment was the level of fashion on display at the Met Gala. It's a much bigger, more fashion-ey event than the movie suggests. Those were red carpet gowns for an awards ceremonies, not Met Gala gowns.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:01 PM on July 7, 2018


That's because Rhianna was not there as a guest, only undercover as her character. Actual Rhianna would've upped the fashion level to a proper intensity.
posted by rmd1023 at 5:38 AM on July 8, 2018 [1 favorite]


Sarah Paulson's Tammy's explanation to her kid what a fence does is hilarious, and more importantly, apt.
posted by porpoise at 11:28 PM on January 24, 2020


Here's a Stack Exchange discussion of the list. It did seem like an incomplete part of the movie, something that had a larger part in the story before getting cut.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:55 PM on April 20, 2020


Pretty good, my partner really loved it more than that, I hear the lack of stakes, but it was quite fun.
posted by Carillon at 9:43 PM on May 29, 2023


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