(Cert 12A, 128 mins)
Crime pays handsomely in this convoluted, effervescent caper, continuing the misadventures of the larcenous Ocean family in Steven Soderbergh’s trilogy.
It has been more than a decade since the daring Las Vegas casino heist of Ocean’s 13 and the world has changed beyond recognition.
Director Gary Ross’s stylish picture has an all-female lead cast spearheaded by Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett.
They plot an ambitious robbery that subtly acknowledges seismic shifts in gender politics by refusing to hire a male accomplice and strain the bonds of sisterly solidarity.
“A him gets noticed, a her gets ignored and for once we want to be ignored,” says Bullock’s criminal mastermind.
The loosely coiled plot, co-written by Olivia Milch, requires similar suspensions of disbelief to previous chapters, but there’s a loopy logic to each twist, and our enjoyment stems from watching the pieces of an elaborate puzzle fall into place — often with seconds to spare.
Elliot Gould and contortionist Shaobo Qin briefly reprise roles as members of the old guard, but Ocean’s 8 stands tall on its own stiletto-clad feet without repeatedly flirting with the past.
Danny Ocean’s younger sister, Debbie (Bullock), emerges from a five-year stint at Nichols Women’s Prison with 45 dollars in her pocket and revenge on her mind.
Her target is ex-lover Claude Becker (Richard Armitage), an art gallery owner who set her up for fraud. Her cunning plan is to frame Becker for the theft of “blingy,
Liz Taylor jewels” which are set in a necklace that actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) is to wear to the annual Met Gala fundraiser.
Debbie assembles a crack crew including best friend Lou (Blanchett), fence Tammy (Sarah Paulson), jeweller Amita (Mindy Kaling), pickpocket Constance (Awkwafina), hacker Nine (Rihanna), and fashion designer Rose (Helena Bonham Carter).
Bullock doesn’t need to flex her comic muscles, allowing Bonham Carter’s eccentricity and Hathaway’s diva to pickpocket big laughs alongside James Corden as a wily insurance fraud investigator who has a long history with the Ocean family.
Ross’s direction doesn’t steal the limelight from an engaging cast, who are clearly enjoying themselves and their geniality is infectious.
Damon Smith
See interview, right
There is a rare image doing the rounds at the moment, drifting past you on the side of buses, dominating billboards that tower over your head. It’s the sight of eight women in a row on a movie poster, not a man in sight.
Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson and Awkwafina stand in formation in the poster for Ocean’s 8, a heist movie follow-up to Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen, which starred George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.
“Are we on buses?” Blanchett asks, gleefully. “That’s so cool.
“But this is not a moment. This is not a fashionable kind of zeitgeisty moment.
“This is women being supported by a studio, in a tentpole movie, for a diverse audience.”
It’s undeniable that what she speaks of is a rare thing, and the audience for this film is already showing up.
In the US, the film — which sees a group of female criminals plot to steal a $150 million diamond necklace at the Met Gala — had the biggest opening weekend of any of the Ocean’s films.
Bullock plays Debbie Ocean, the sister of Clooney’s character Danny, while Blanchett is her long-term partner-in-crime Lou.
They recruit Rihanna’s expert hacker, Paulson’s semi-retired fence, Kaling’s diamond expert, Bonham Carter’s fashion designer and Awkwafina’s street hustler to commit the perfect crime.
Hathaway is the mark — the actress who will be manipulated into wearing the famed Toussaint necklace to the star-studded fashion gala, where it will be swiped from her swan-like neck.
“There is such an extraordinary bunch of talented people involved in front of the camera, behind the camera as well, and that is what I’m excited about and I think audiences want that”, Blanchett says, as she cosies up next to Bullock on a squishy sofa in a London hotel.
“Well they are getting it, whether they want it or not!” Bullock adds with a laugh.
The film’s success at the box office, where it made more than $40m in its opening weekend, may go some way to dismiss the persisting myth that films starring women don’t make money.
“I’ve had very good fortune with films, and I’m a female, I think, and they’ve done well,” Bullock says.
“Bridesmaids was a bunch of women and it did exceedingly well.
“When you have a good story, a good story works whether it’s with women or with men.
“I’m around women a lot and they have constantly said, ‘Why doesn’t the cinema represent how we are in real life?’ Which is taking care of each other, working with each other, having fun. It was nice to finally have a story that did that.”
The film brought together a diverse group of stars who have had very different careers and experiences, and for Bullock that was part of the joy. “I’m proud that we worked together — eight of us worked together as a team,” she says.
“None of us separated, none of us felt it was our job to stand out. It was all for one and one for all.
“We helped each other. If one of us was down or struggling with our child, the other would say, ‘Why don’t we switch a scene so you can sleep in?’ It was really lovely — working mums making it work.
“It could have been so different. Getting eight people from different walks of life, male or female, to get along and agree is not easy, but somehow we just quickly agreed and got along really well.”
The reviews for the film have been rather mixed, and it has not