The reviews for Ocean’s 8 have arrived, and the critical signs are mixed.
The heist film starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna and Anne Hathaway earned a ho-hum response from The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney. The film features an all-female leading cast and is a continuation of the franchise started in 2001 by director Stephen Soderbergh that starred George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
“This is a self-satisfied exercise that’s only occasionally as much fun as it thinks it is,” writes Rooney. “Rather than reimagining them as newly minted characters, Ross locks himself into a limiting corner by treating Debbie and Lou strictly as female clones of Clooney’s Danny and Brad Pitt’s Rusty Ryan in the earlier films. The whole point of rebuilding the glamorous crime caper around women is to make them different. But although they swap tuxedos for couture gowns and heels — or in biker chick Lou’s case, slinky pantsuits and a razor-cut shag — the dynamic lacks freshness.”
He continues: “Even when the stakes are at their highest, the leads’ delivery is cooler-than-thou, tongue-in-cheek deadpan, accompanied by smug half-smiles, which frankly, gets a bit one-note tiresome and self-conscious. Blanchett’s relaxed swagger at least indicates that she seems to be enjoying herself, at one amusing point going undercover in a halal food truck. But Bullock’s performance feels stiff despite the character’s take-charge confidence.”
Rooney did highlight the supporting cast, however, saying, “The funniest standout by virtue of her homegirl insouciance and wiry physicality is Awkwafina as nimble-fingered Queens street hustler and pickpocket extraordinaire Constance” and “Rihanna also has an appealing presence and an impeccable command of the side-eye double take.”
Faring less well is Helena Bonham Carter. “Bonham Carter is playing an eccentric character not unlike her frequent designer of choice, Vivienne Westwood, which should be clever casting, but her bonkers mannerisms feel as strained as her inconsistent Irish accent. Her timing is constantly off,” Rooney notes.
Vulture‘s Emily Yoshida wasn’t bowled…
