Review - Heist movies

I have watched two heist movies recently -- Inside Man and, apparently, Ocean's Tw[1] -- and I have to admit that I would be hard pressed to imagine two more different movies.

I'll start with Ocean's Tw, because that raised my hackles enough to blog this afternoon.

This movie is not as clever as it thinks it is. It's overly complicated, pretentious, and disjointed, lacking any of the charm or dazzle of the original remake. As far as I can tell, it's an excuse for Clooney, Pitt and a few other A-listers to go on a jolly in Amsterdam and Rome. Fair enough, but if I'm going to watch someone else's holiday videos I at least expect to know the person.

Where the heist in Ocean's 11 was clever and well-executed, the heist in the sequel[2] is badly conceived and even more badly explained. Having Clooney say over drinks, 'Oh, yeah, we actually stole the easter egg a couple of days before we were supposed to. Haha, I am the greetest', just doesn't cut it. What the hell did I bother watching for the last hour for then? Damnit.

The movie lacks any chemistry, and both Clooney and Pitt phone their roles in. The attempt to recreate the romantic tension from the first film -- this time between Pitt and Zeta-Jones -- falls on its arse. Frankly, I don't care.

There are a couple of moments of comedy, and the Julia Roberts lookalike skit works kinda well[3], but for the most part they are buried under all the mediocrity.

The news that Ocean's Thirteen is in pre-production fills me with complete Indifference.

In contrast, Inside Man, Spike Lee's latest, is everything that it Ocean's Tw wishes it was. This film is as clever as it thinks it is. It's well written and directed, and the moments of humour manage to work without detracting any from the tension of the heist. These are characters that you can care for, and by the end of the film the viewer is left feeling entertained, not cheated.

Of the two, the Inside Man will get my vote everytime.

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[1] The small television set in the lounge cuts most of a regular size picture up, so anything in widescreen gets some intense peripheral editing. Gah.
[2] In fact three heists, although if you blink at the wrong time you'll miss the second.
[3] Although Willis just looks uncomfortable, and also phones his small cameo in.