In this new Steven Soderbergh heist caper, a sort of Chicken-Fried/Good-Old-Boy OCEAN’S reboot, the film might as well be an afterthought. Slickly made, and plotted to a hard-to-track fare-thee-well, it follows a gaggle of West Virginia ‘white trash’* on a racetrack cash deposit ripoff executed while the biggest race of the year runs. But there’s a patronizing edge to a production that was as much distribution experiment as entertainment, with Soderbergh trying to control cost & cash flow by cutting out studio middlemen for his own indie release. Plotwise, this failed newfangled finance scheme sounds more interesting than any of the twice-chewed cud playing on screen. Yet, they each turned in a twist ending you didn’t see with the film quietly tanking and the film story setting up a sequel unlikely to see the light of day. Instead, an all-girl OCEAN’S reboot (down from 11, 12 & 13 to 8); and, in a twist you did see coming, distributed by the Good-Old Brothers Warner.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The preternaturally talented/prolific Mr. Soderbergh takes more than his fair share of stumbles. More credit to him.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *What a load of mix-and-match Southern accents from this motley crew! And, dear oh dear, Hilary Swank returning to the big screen after three years for this comedown nothing role? Best guess she was promised bigger things in that never happening sequel.
WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Bill Forsyth’s BREAKING IN/’89 takes better advantage of a similar idea.
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