The women are not the problem with Ocean’s 8. Who decided to invite Gary Ross to write (along with Olivia Milch) and direct? Thanks to Ross, an anti-Soderbergh, Ocean’s 8 is as boringly competent as one would expect. As soon as Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), sister of George Clooney’s now-deceased Danny, is released from prison, she puts her revenge scheme into action with her old pal, Lou (Cate Blanchett). The partners soon enlist the various skills of Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna and Helena Bonham-Carter in their plot to rob Anne Hathaway’s celebutante.
Ross and Milch put all their inventiveness into the appropriately clever plan; their jokes are a bit stale. Good thing the pros—especially Hathaway—are more than capable. Outside of the men’s rights “activists” lurking on Reddit, disliking this all-girl heist comedy is as unlikely as its chances to light a fan-fire. Not that anyone will care, so long as it reignites the Ocean’s franchise at the box office. A sequel is the exact sort of thing I can imagine—especially one that features Clooney as a resurrected Danny Ocean.
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