Theresa Corvino - Star Image - Ocean's Twelve

Ocean’s Twelve
Dir: Steven Soderbergh
2004

Synopsis: When they are forced to repay the money they stole in Ocean’s Eleven, they add another member to their crew in order to pull off three European heists and beat a master European thief.

This film, like all in the series, relied heavily on the star power of all of the 12 main cast members. The three biggest stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon are the three biggest characters. The rest of the 12 are big name actors that each draws their own unique crowd to the film.

One of this film’s biggest faults is their exploitation of the star system not just in the casting of the actors but also becomes an integral part of the story. There is a part in the story where it seems as though there was no way out of the situation they had stuck themselves in. Most of the cast had been captured and the few that are left are searching for ways to save the others.

Then, when you wonder if they could sink low enough to draw completely on the star card – but the possibility does not seem realistic. However, then they do it and you feel like you are watching a train wreck the entire time. They actually have the actress Julia Roberts, who plays a character in the film, pretend to be Julia Roberts the actress because the character looks like her. This is possibly the lowest a film can sink in exploiting star power. The film hints at this the entire time as a joke but then plays it right through in what they think must be a joke, but is just a horrible way to fill a plot problem they could not fix.