I love the Ocean’s movies because they are light and breezy, and because it’s just so clear on the screen that the all-star cast was having a blast as they filmed. That’s true of the original Ocean’s 11, starring the Rat Pack back in 1960. It’s especially true of the three movies from the 21st century. When the cast, including Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones, showed up on the set for Ocean’s Twelve, which you can watch with a Paramount+ subscription, it seemed they all had a little fun at Zeta-Jones’ expense, as Brad Pitt revealed.
Zeta-Jones Came In Ready To Work…
Catherine Zeta-Jones, being the professional that she is, arrived on set ready to work. Like most standard roles, she wanted to talk shop and figure out how her scenes would work. For Pitt and the other cast members, like George Clooney, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, and the rest of the superstars, the movie was really just a nice vacation in Europe. Well, maybe all but one of the actors. Pitt explained in an interview with the Daily Echo around the time of the release of the movie:
I would like to call it work, but it was pretty much automatic for us. I think the biggest joke was on Catherine because she actually thought we were making a movie.
Of course, Zeta-Jones eventually fit right in, as Pitt also mentions in the interview:
The great thing about Catherine is she has this great beauty, elegance, but at the same time, she’ll drink any one of you under the table.
That’s pretty much how I’ve always pictured the behind-the-scenes escapades in the making of the Ocean’s movies. You can just tell there was a good time going on. It makes me long for a return to that world, and who knows, maybe we will someday, as George Clooney recently teased that Ocean’s Fourteencould be on the way and could even get it “started up” next year.
Ocean’s Twelve Isn’t My Favorite Of The Movies, But It’s Still Great
Director Steven Soderbergh has made a ton of great movies, but I wouldn’t rank Ocean’s Twelve among his best, if I’m honest. Of all the movies (not including Ocean’s 8, which I also like), it’s probably my least favorite of the Ocean’s trilogy. Still, the backstage hijinks might be the best of them all.
All that said, and as brutal as some fans are, I still love rewatching all the movies, including Twelve. Part of the fun is that the locations are more exotic than Vegas, though I do love a good Vegas movie. Shooting in Italy is what made it a vacation, of course, and it’s what sets it apart and makes it so rewatchable for me, even if it’s not as solid as the other movies.
