The powerhouse cast of Ocean’s 8 is thrilling but let down by a minor inconvenience — a tokenistic plot.
There’s a girl inside me who grew up watching Steven Soderbergh’s incredible Ocean’s trilogy and was thrilled when the first poster of the all-women Ocean’s 8 was unveiled. There’s also a feminist inside me who knew that that wasn’t enough. And so both went to watch the movie and emerged with quite a mixed reaction.
With women speaking up about their due in movies, a new tokenistic trend has emerged in Hollywood. Recast hits with all-women leads — to still be directed by men, of course. Like Ghostbusters (2016), a reboot of a highly successful franchise that did nothing for the stellar women it cast.
So when Sandra Bullock takes centre stage in the heist thriller with Cate Blanchette by her side, you expect it to be a winning camaraderie. If only the script (Olivia Milch) and director Gary Ross didn’t let the eight women down.
While Ocean’s 11 (2001) saw George Clooney’s men rob a casino on its busiest night, the women in Ocean’s 8 steal, well, jewelry. The heist is exciting, but predictable.
Conned by her boyfriend, Debbie Ocean (Bullock) spends five years in jail plotting the perfect theft. When she gets out she gathers eight women — Lou (Blanchett) the woman who adulterates alcohol, Constance (Awkwafina) the pickpocket, 9 Ball (Rihanna) the hacker, Amita (Mindy Kaling) the jeweler, Tammy (Sarah Paulson) the fraudster stay-at-home mother, and Rose (Helena Bonham Carter) the fading designer. There is also Anne Hathway as the insecure star, Daphne Kluger, from whose neck the prized Cartier diamond necklace is to be stolen on the night of the exclusive Met Gala.
One would expect that an outstanding cast like this would be provided with a brilliant script. However, as the movie unfolds, Ocean is revealed to be a jilted lover who uses the heist to frame her ex-boyfriend. Because no matter what women do, their love stories must intertwine with the main narrative, sometimes even guide it.
As an Indian, one can’t help but also notice the pathetic two minutes when Kaling is forced to speak Hindi and argues with her mom about marriage. Enough with the Indian stereotypes, Hollywood.
On the night of the theft, though, it is the Caucasian women — Bullock, Blanchett, Paulson, and Carter — who take the meaty and visible roles right at the centre of the glitzy star-studded gala. Kaling, Awkwafina, and Rihanna, on the other hand, are only accessories to the main action — one hides in the bathroom, one in the kitchen, and one in a food truck. Coincidence? Maybe not.
Slipped in here and there, though, are some great lines.
When Lou wants to hire a man on their team, Debbie reminds her that she needs it to be women only, because women get ignored. And for once the plot demands it. Before the heist, Debbie reminds the others — “Don’t do this for yourselves, do it for the little 8-year old girls who want to grow up to be criminals”.
Ocean’s 8 is an entertaining crowd-pleaser, but don’t think too much about it once done because the flaws then become too glaring.
P.S: If you are an art enthusiast and looking for Easter eggs, zoom into the artwork supposedly ‘vandalised’ by anonymous satirical artist Banksy at the Met. All the men in Emmanuel Leutze’s famous painting Washington Crossing the Delaware have been replaced by women.