But it also underlines the trouble with caper comedies. But Griffin (or director Steven Soderbergh) must have figured: “Who are we kidding? It’s Brand X exposition let’s make a joke of it.” And it’s a good joke-a postmodern, post-Mamet one. ” He could subsequently have written: “I owe you for saving my ass with the IRS at Caesar’s Palace,” or “I owe you for getting the rabbi’s wife out of my room after the goiter operation,” or something, anything specific.

The writer, Ted Griffin, clearly needed to give Tishkoff a motive for the sake of narrative credibility I imagine him typing, “I owe you for the with the at the. That line is emblematic on so many levels. Early in the entertaining, instantly forgettable remake of Ocean’s Eleven (Warner Bros.), former casino owner Reuben Tishkoff (bare-chested Elliot Gould in a howlingly tacky bathrobe and boxers) explains why he’s helping the master thief Danny Ocean (George Clooney) plan a $165 million robbery of his old establishment: “I owe you for the thing with the guy in the place.”

Ocean's eleven casino owner