This heist movie directed by Steven Soderbergh has nothing on its mind except to entertain us with the antics of some talented and competitive men who are drop-outs from regular society. Three years after robbing casino kingpin Terry Benedict, members of the Ocean's Eleven gang are told that they have two weeks to pay back — with interest — the millions they took from him. Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is living in suburbia with his wife, Tess (Julia Roberts); Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) is in the hotel business; Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) is producing an album; and the others have been off on their own spending money until this unexpected day of reckoning brings them all back together again.
They gather in Amsterdam to plan a big heist only to find themselves in competition with the Night Fox (Vincent Cassel), Europe's top thief, who is being pursued by Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), an intrepid Interpol investigator. This rich and self-absorbed man arranges a race to steal the Faberge Coronation Egg from a Rome art museum. Meanwhile, complications ensue when Ocean discovers that Isabel used to be Rusty's lover and is not adverse to using him in her own scheme to catch the Night Fox.
Everyone in the movie seems to be having fun, and many bits work well, including a scene where Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) tries to prove that he can move in the same high circle with Danny and Rusty. Carl Reiner and Elliott Gould are funny when they are called upon to be eccentric, and Bruce Willis carries off the humor in an extended cameo involving a visit by the actress Julia Roberts to the Rome art museum. Soderbergh displays a light touch throughout. It's a lark to watch this top-drawer cast strutting their stuff in such a playful manner.
