The Girls Are Back in Town!

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By Tom Pacak

In a summer where superheroes control the multiplex, it seems ideal to squeeze at least one heist movie in there. I’m a huge fan of the superhero genre but it’s nice letting another genre steal the spotlight from the big earners. This summer’s heist flick is “Oceans 8,” a glamorous but done before reboot to Steven Soderbergh’s Oceans 11 (he serves as a producer this round). In “Oceans 8,” the women are in charge.

It’s been approximately five years, eight months, and 12 days and counting for Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), the sister of the late and charismatic Danny Ocean (George Clooney, no he doesn’t cameo) to come up with the perfect heist. The film references Danny several times throughout. A lot of characters speculate that he may not be dead. I can see a possible cameo in future installments if that’s the case. After being screwed over by her ex-lover (Richard Armitage) in a fraud scheme, Debbie is out for revenge. It’s obvious that stealing is in Debbie’s blood; the first scene shows her stealing from jewelry and clothing stores. She claims to the oblivious clerks that she is returning items but doesn’t have a receipt. They give her store bags to put the items in. Danny would be proud!

Like every perfect heist, there needs to be a crew. Debbie calls in her best friend Lou (Cate Blanchett) to recruit more thieves. They find Amita (Mindy Kaling) an unmarried jewelry maker, Tammy (Sarah Paulson) a suburban mom who makes a living in the black market, Constance (Awkwafina) a slick pick pickpocketer, Nine Ball (famous singer Rihanna) a stoner hacker, and Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter) a ditzy fashion designer. What are they after? A $150 million necklace that will be worn by Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) a pretentious actress who is not as dumb as you think. Daphne will wear the necklace at the star-studded yearly Met Gala where several famous celebrities cameo as themselves. 

Does "Oceans 8" match up the original Oceans movies? Absolutely not! Steven Soderbergh is the king of playing with his toy box randomly and coming up with stylish and sexy results. George Clooney and Brad Pitt also made stealing shit undeniably cool. I wouldn’t mind if those guys stole shit from me. In “Oceans 8”, director Gary Ross (Hunger Games) is more concerned with the plot twists and overall execution of the heist than he is with the story behind it. Bullock and Blanchett are no Pitt and Clooney but they have enough flirtatious chemistry to carry the heist. The supporting characters also get their fair share of moments. Sarah Paulson and Anne Hathaway were the favorites in my book! The men in this flick just stand out as objects. The villain is an exact blueprint of Andy Garcia’s money-loving Terry Benedict but with not enough development or screen time. A hilarious James Corden shows up towards the end as an insurance investigator who may want in on the scheme.

The film is indeed worth the admission of a ticket on $5 discount night. A good movie to turn off your brain and watch beautiful actresses pull off a heist you’ve seen a million times before. Take this one to the bank but probably only once. What more can you ask out of summer?

Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars


Note: Now Playing in Theaters

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