The cast of the original Ocean’s Eleven, which came out in 1960.
In 2001, Steven Soderbergh remade the movie, this time with George Clooney and Brad Pitt in Sinatra and Martin’s roles and a murderer’s row of established and emerging movie stars: Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Elliott Gould, Carl Reiner, Casey Affleck, a baby-faced Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts. So what makes us keep going back to the Ocean’s series? The first movie came out almost six decades ago, in 1960, and starred five members of the “Rat Pack” - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford - alongside a host of other well-known actors, including Angie Dickinson. But there are lots of heist movies with ensemble casts, some of which, at the end of the day, are probably better films. And it makes sense that Hollywood loves them too (just take a look at the box office numbers). It’s no surprise that America loves heist movies with sexy, star-studded casts. What makes the Ocean’s movies so alluring?
