Ocean’s 8

Unlike Ocean’s Eleven, which was saddled with a large ensemble and a similar runtime, Ocean’s Eight scaled back the team to a more manageable, but still quite large, number. The team featured heavy hitters in the form of Sand Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, Awkwafina, Helena Bonham Carter, and, as a late-reveal surprise that the marketing did not bother to hide, Anne Hathaway. From the preceding three films, Elliott Gould reprised his role, briefly, as Reuben Tishkoff at the beginning of the film. Additionally, though their scenes were ultimately cut, Matt Damon and Carl Reiner reprised their roles of Linus Caldwell and Saul Bloom. Near the end, we find that Yen (Shaobo Qin) also returned to offer his unique skillset to make the deeper part of Debbie and Lou’s heist workable.

What I find entertaining about the Ocean’s films is their willingness to live in their world. From the outset, Ocean’s Eleven featured a slew of celebrity cameos as themselves, learning poker from one of the leads. Here, the film centers on a cultural phenomenon that everybody has heard of, even if they’ve only ever glimpsed its grandeur on the screen or in magazines. Deborah “Debbie” Ocean (Bullock), recently released from prison, immediately sets her sights on just a bit of revenge for somebody who betrayed her – and chooses the Met Gala for her venue. What she wants is the Toussaint, a $150 million diamond necklace owned by Cartier. This real necklace no longer exists in its original form but has been recreated for events throughout time by Cartier itself. They redesigned the necklace for this film.

With the Met Gala as the primary target, the production could have chosen to simply fake it and hoped nobody would notice. Instead, they took their ball, had fun, and secured well over two dozen celebrities – from designers, musicians, actors, influencers, and Anna Wintour herself – to fill out the central set piece for their film. Not a “stand-in” location – the actual location. That’s the kind of ambition that is often talked about but rarely executed. Through behind-the-scenes material, it’s clear that everybody had a blast filming the Met Gala scenes, where the heist unfolds over fifteen minutes of the film’s entire runtime.

Lou Miller (Blanchett) acts as Debbie’s second and her closest confidant, which is precisely why Lou’s bar is her first stop, where we find her ordering her people to cut vodka with water. While Debbie’s been in prison, Lou has kept her ear to the ground and has a few ideas on who they can pull together for the heist, which she doesn’t believe in because of how impossible it is, but damn does she love a challenge.

Rose Weill (Bonham Carter) is a fashion designer facing a mountain of debt with the IRS, whose skills are essential to the heist unfolding. While she is anxious and antsy, with flighty tendencies, her skills are exemplary, and her name recognition offers a way in. Amita (Kaling) is a jewelry maker looking to get out from under her mother. At first sight, it feels out of place, but all it takes is a single glance at the one-of-a-kind necklace to know that even the best fencer is never getting that thing moved. Amita’s talents make their moves after it’s hypothetically stolen, possible.

Leslie “Nina Ball” Jordan (Rihanna) is a capable hacker whose job is to infiltrate and manipulate the extensive security presence at the Met Gala. She does this by slowly maneuvering one particular camera every day to craft an innocuous blind spot in a venue that has literally every inch but the interior of the bathrooms under surveillance. Constance (Awkwafina) is herself in pickpocket form, capable of using sleight of hand to get her hands on seemingly the most difficult to steal items. Her job is simple: remove the necklace, which has a complicated lock, from the neck of their perceived target.

Daphne Kluger (Hathaway) is presented as a mark – but not the mark that Debbie is after. In reality, partway through the film, she realized what was happening and, bored with her life as a famous actress, eagerly joins the caper, making it ten times easier to not only get what they want but also who Debbie is attempting to get back at.

Claude Becker (Richard Armitage) is an art dealer and Debbie’s ex, who framed her for a crime, which is what landed her in prison before the film began. He’s charming, handsome, and incredibly wealthy, but once you strip all that away, he’s little more than a slimebag and the kind of guy you can understand being framed for the theft of a $150 million necklace. John Frazier (James Corden) is the last major character in the film. He’s an insurance fraud investigator who is called in when the necklace is stolen and instantly pegs Debbie as the culprit. However, with a rock-solid alibi and no direct line of sight to the only place the necklace could have been stolen, he has to move on.

Ocean’s Eight took a group of powerful actresses and let them shine in the aspects of their careers that they have become known for. Every one of them has a long history in comedy films, whether the romcom route or slapstick comedy, but they’ve also had quite a bit of success in dramatic roles. Ensemble films are built on the backs of the group we’re asked to follow, and each of them proves that they were the right choice to bring this film to life.

Until more recently, it had long since been dismissed that a follow-up to the original trilogy would ever happen, as Clooney and many of the others seemed disinterested in continuing after the passing of Bernie Mac. Yet, it appears that feelings might have changed. What this means for Bullock’s crew is unknown. Still, considering they have a longstanding working relationship, one can hope the silver screen is big enough for eighteen.