Director
Gary Ross
(THE HUNGER GAMES)
Stars
Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling and Rihanna
It was with excitement and trepidation that I entered the cinema to watch the new incarnation of the ‘Ocean’s’ franchise. The excitement to see one of the finest ensembles of women actors in Hollywood, strut their stuff in the familiar Ocean’s heist formula, but trepidation that it might not live up to the hype, and the inevitable misogynistic sledging that would no doubt follow if deemed a failure (think Ghostbusters of the 2016 variety). Thankfully by the end of the film, I was confident that it had done enough to hold its own and could potentially lead to more films, continuing the legacy of the franchise…but that’s not to say it didn’t have its failings too.
In a sensible move by the film makers, this movie isn’t a female re-imagining of the previous Ocean’s 11 through 13. In Ocean’s 8 we meet Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), the sister of the legendary Danny Ocean (played by George Clooney in the previous films). Recently paroled and having had plenty of time to mastermind the perfect heist, Debbie sets her sights on lining her pockets and settling some scores along the way. She begins to assemble a team of talented criminals, played by the likes of Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna and Mindy Kaling, just to name a few, and her master plan to extract a $150,000,000 diamond necklace from Cartier is put into motion.
Anyone familiar with the previous Clooney or Frank Sinatra led Ocean’s movies will know how the gig usually plays out, and this doesn’t deviate too greatly from that. But it is refreshing to see this version held together by such a tremendous cast of female talent. There is one line in the film that I particularly appreciated (apologies if not verbatim); “We don’t want a ‘him’. Men draw attention and are noticed and women are invisible, and this is a time when it’s good to be invisible”. I thought this was an apt little dig at not only the status of women in society, but particularly in the Hollywood industry. In just the 8 titular actors in this film we have; 4 Academy Awards, 6 Golden Globes and countless nominations for both, but I dare say that collectively these women would not have earned anywhere close to what the top 3 billed actors in Ocean’s 11 would earn today. There is an astonishing dearth of female centric stories in Hollywood, and the sparsity of roles for women over a certain age is appalling. That’s what makes this movie so important; not only is it driven by women, but the lead actress (Bullock) is soon to turn 54, which is a number in Hollywood that usually deems women ‘invisible’.
The main thing that holds back this film is the lack of character depth. At 110 minutes I feel like they could have added 20 minutes to really give us a better look at the 8. By the end of the film I still know very little about any of the characters and their motivations. This really makes me hope that there are more movies to follow, which could invest in better character exploration. Many of the cast were also under-utilised, this was particularly noticeable in Mindy Kaling’s character. When you have actors with a strong comedic sense, which is certainly the case with Kaling and Bullock, it was disappointing that the comedy aspect of the film wasn’t better explored. It did have a couple of amusing moments, but definitely nothing more than that. Whilst I’m aware that it’s an action/crime/comedy and not just a comedy, I do think the writers missed an opportunity to make this movie better than good.
Overall though, the film worked; you got what you came for, nothing more, and nothing less. Now I will sit back and hope that it does achieve success at the box office, because I want nothing more than to see a plethora of movies featuring strong, savvy women getting stuff done.
3.5 stars
Trailer
OCEAN’S 8
Moviedoc thanks Roadshow Films for the invite to the screening of this film.
Reviewed by Jell for Moviedoc
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