Fifteen years ago this week, Ocean’s Eleven hit theaters. Heavy on handsomeness, expensive clothing, and pay-attention-or-you’ll-miss-it wit, the widespread success of the film spawned a trilogy that banked over a billion dollars in worldwide revenue.
Aside from the film axiom that the first movie in a sequel or a trilogy is almost always the best of the bunch — The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight, and The Godfather: Part II come to mind as exceptions — Eleven is the best of the Ocean’s trilogy because the prime members of the ensemble cast are each permitted to dive fully into their characters without the baggage that comes in the next two films.