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'Twelve': Deft cast willing to spoof itself is a large part of film's appeal

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Steven Soderbergh's star-laden, finger-snapping-smooth remake of the old Rat Pack romp "Ocean's Eleven" grossed more than $450 million worldwide in 2001. So a sequel was a no-brainer.

And that's precisely what "Ocean's Twelve" is -- a fizzy no-brainer made much more fun by its A-list cast, led by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle.

That it's not as good as "Eleven" is almost a given. The number of sequels that have surpassed or even equaled the original is roughly the same as Ashlee Simpson's I.Q. What's missing here is the first film's effortless elan and the delicious buzz of so many diverse high rollers gathered together in a single smart-alecky, high-spirited heist flick.

AP Photo 'Ocean's Twelve' B- The verdict: The gang comes out swingin' — and that's probably all you need to know. Director: Steven Soderbergh Starring: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones Run time: 120 minutes Release date: Dec. 10, 2004 Rating: PG-13 for language See showtimes On the web Official Site View the trailer   -- Trailers require Quicktime [an error occurred while processing this directive]

The thrill isn't entirely gone, but much of the surprise element is. The only unknown this time is, who will be Danny Ocean's (Clooney) 12th thief?

Luckily, even a little bit of Clooney and company can take a movie a very long way. Plus, Catherine Zeta-Jones has been added to the mix as a smart, sexy Interpol detective who once had a thing with Pitt.

Three years after they socked it to a venal Vegas kingpin Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the gang has scattered all over the world -- London, Las Vegas, even Louisiana. Then Terry shows up at Danny and Tess' (Julia Roberts) costly, color-coordinated Connecticut home ("Too oxblood" is Tess' verdict on the painter's latest shade of red.).

He wants his money back. With interest.

So it's off to Amsterdam, Rome and Paris for a grand theft trifecta. One problem: A mysterious master thief known as the Night Fox (an impressively lithe and lighthearted Vincent Cassel) keeps beating them to the booty.

"Ocean's Twelve" is even more self-indulgent about its stars' images than its predecessor. Clooney gladly suffers jokes about his age and wakes up in the morning with a tuff of hair standing straight up on his head, just like A REGULAR GUY! Pitt uses dandruff shampoo (who knew). Roberts grins deliriously when someone takes a poke at her press-phobic, Queen Elizabeth wave-and-smile behavior.

It's all a lot like the old Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road pictures. You half expect Dorothy Lamour to show up in a sarong. Or Tom Cruise in a thong. (Well, we do get Bruce Willis in a sweater.)

Yet that's also the best thing about "Twelve." Watching Big Stars behave like Big Stars. And best buddies.

Zeta-Jones works harder than anyone else in the movie. No wonder; she probably has more screen time than at least eight of the 11 put together (blink and you'll miss Bernie Mac). Nobody's coasting exactly — though Pitt seems to have based his entire performance on an oral fixation; he's always chewing gum or scarfing down chips. But no one's trying very hard, either. Not even Steven Soderbergh, who clearly knows that this one of those movies that's just about letting stars be stars.

As a result, they collectively hand the movie to Cassel, a French megastar just waiting to happen over here. Not only is he insufferably handsome and inordinately sexy, he also does some of his own stunts, which includes an amazing acrobatic sequence in which he eludes circling laser beams.

You may recall that Peter Sellers' hugely popular Inspector Clouseau was conceived as an ancillary to David Niven's top-billed cat burglar in "The Pink Panther." So Cassel may have a chance in Hollywood. Besides, the Sexy French Rascal slot once filled by Yves Montand and Jean-Paul Belmondo has gone wanting for too long.