tyguy-2

I love crime caper flicks and this one is pretty good and made better by the all-star cast. I haven't seen the original Oceans 11 starring the Rat Pack, so a comparison can't be made, and probably isn't fair, really. As with any good caper movie, you have a man fresh out of the clink (Clooney) who plans the one big job that will set him for life and allow him to take the straight and narrow when its done. We follow the recruitment of the old gang, the planning, and assorted hi-jinx along the way. The characters are interesting enough, with a mixed bag of old-time Vega$ types as well as some young nerdlings and assorted hipsters thrown in the mix, makes for an entertaining bunch. The plot is to rob three casinos at once and actually is quite elaborate. One thing I dug about it was that they slowly revealed how the robbery would take place, so your are kept in the dark for much of the movie. To complicate matters, Clooney targets one of the casinos because his ex is seeing the owner. Normally, this would seem like a contrivance to bring in the 'chick flick' audience (Doesn't having Clooney in a movie already bring in the chicks??), but it tosses a kink into their plans, so I'll let is slide. The movie is entertaining enough to recommend, but doesn't quite stand up against the best caper flicks.

This is loosely based on the true story of a member of the Czech underground assasinating the nazi regional governer, a ruthless fellow they call 'the Hangman'. The story revolves around the assasin and the family that unknowingly hid him from the gestapo. When questioned by the gestapo, the family says the guy was there to see their daughter, who happens to be engaged to another fine gentleman. So this little situation complicates the story, as the gestapo detective,a very ruthless chap, tries to catch them in the lie. From there the story moves along in chilling fashion when 400 townfolks are rounded up to be executed in groups of 10 each day until the assasin is turned in. This causes people to question their inner strength and makes them wonder if it is worth it to sacrifice themselves to keep him hidden. The story gets resolves in a very clever way which I will not reveal. The movie has that film noir/Hitchkockian feel to it with the protagonist being chased down and making clever escapes by the skin of his teeth. Although the movie drags a bit here and there, it ends up being a worthwhile suspenseful drama and also makes you think a bit about what would you do if you were put in that situation.

Interesting movie that mixes Mexican folklore with a fringe element of organized crime. What we have is a story where Pitt is a gopher for a crime figure and rare gun collector and wants out. He's given one last assignment to make up for the last job that he messed up. His assignment sounds rather simple.... go to Mexico and pick up a rare pistola for his boss. He heads south and things go mucho awry. Rather than go into details on all this, I'll just say it makes for a fun ride. I liked the little adventures that followed Pitt around as he just wants to get the job done but nothing seems to go right. Roberts is his girlfriend who gets kidnapped and held as collateral by Galdafono until Pitt returns with the pistola. Galdonofo plays an off-kilter character... a sensitive hitman who engages Roberts to talk about her love troubles a la an Oprah interview.... all while holding her hostage. And with the locales, I really dug the little towns in and the seedy atmosphere the movie captured. It gave me that 'hmmmm, I want to travel' vibe. The one problem I had with the movie was the comic tone sprinkled in here and there. Without it, I would have dug this one a lot more.