Cate Blanchett once joked about there are only 8 women working in Hollywood, hence Ocean’s 8. But that joke aside, Ocean’s 8 does have the some of the most high-profile female actors in the industry so it is not surprising that it generates quite a bit of buzz for its release, especially it was once a male heavy franchise with the brotherhood of George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
Sandra Bullock played George Clooney’s Danny Ocean character’s sister Debbie. As a con woman she was conned and landed in jail for 5 years. But she didn’t spend her time in there for nothing as she plotted a perfect heist to be carried out as soon as she got out. She then sought out her pal Cate Blanchett to assemble a team of fits and misfits based on their skills. The plot then rolls on to how they put together everything and carried out the heist.
Performance wise there aren’t really a lot of stand outs as it is an ensemble movie. It feels like that the director was keen to make sure everyone has similar screen time while moving the plot forward. It is a wise move but then make it less memorable for each character. Also, during the process there were a lot of side plots that weren’t explored thoroughly making you wondering why. Though some of the loose ends were tied up later, you felt that they came a bit too late in the game to give you that “ah” moment. For me the stand out was Rhianna’s character 9-Ball and her sister. As Sandra Bullock’s Debbie wondered, what did their parents do? They look like social misfits but their technological skills surpassed anyone showed up in the movie (imagine Shuri in Black Panther but in the Bronx in New York). Also, Rhianna’s no bull straight to the point / work attitude made her a much sharper character in all. Sandra Bullock’s Debbie was good but then the web with her ex Claude made it kind of painful to watch for me. My personal point of view was that, if it is a girl power movie, you don’t need an ex-boyfriend side plot to make it relevant. It just dragged the whole level of energy down. Cate Blanchett, one of my favourite actors of the generation, really didn’t do much in my opinion. She was instrumental for putting the team together, but apart from that, I can’t really see what’s her major contribution. That said some of her scenes needed to be scrutinised closely as they became essential to the latter part of the movie. Anne Hathaway’s Daphne Kluger was interesting and at times quite funny. Her diva behaviours were definitely enjoyable to watch, especially her seemingly illogical logic about things. Other members of the party were there for their skills and they have their moments, especially for Helena Bonham-Carter’s amateur con-woman fashion designer. Her lack of professional con skills as compared to others was really funny to watch.
Ocean’s 8 is a heist movie, so in terms of that it has a lot to offer. But as I mentioned earlier, the movie felt more like a drag after the heist was completed and then when I found out more why the story hasn’t ended yet, I kind of already dropped my attention level and picking it up with a level of disengagement was hard. Although the movie had hinted there is more in the dialogue, it still feels a bit too much to me (apart from an outstanding cameo one of the members in Clooney’s franchise). We are here to watch the heist and when the heist is over, to keep the audience attention together we need something more than the reason that it put forward on the screen.
In all I did enjoy it, in the wave of #MeToo and girl power movement, Ocean’s 8 was a display of talented woman don’t necessarily need to play damsel in distress, witches or wall flowers. It was a great demonstration of good actors being put together with chemistry, and there were lots, which I think was no easy task with so many award winners in one movie. The chemistry level displayed probably is the reason why Ocean’s 8 gelled together so well.
Personally, I wish the movie focused more on the characters ability and work together than some insignificant minor thing that trivialised what the group originally tried to achieve. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my time in the theatre and did laugh through a few sequences.
