Locals rate ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ highly after weekend viewing

Monday, Dec. 10, 2001 | 9:49 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman may have wound up on the cutting room floor in the remake of "Ocean's Eleven," but the omission didn't stop most area residents from giving high marks to the movie about stealing money from Las Vegas casinos.

"They had Brad Pitt, they didn't need Oscar," said one woman as she left the 5:10 p.m. showing Friday at the Colonnade 14 on Eastern Avenue in Henderson.

"I didn't miss the mayor, not a bit," said Las Vegas resident Greg Church, who caught the noon showing Sunday at the Palms' Brenden Theatres. The newly opened cinema began showing the film at midnight Friday and had viewings every half-hour through the weekend.

In an interview Thursday, Goodman told the Sun he would boycott the film to protest the inferior editing.

"Not only won't I see it," he exclaimed. "If there's an Ocean's Eleven sequel, a 2 or a 3, they ain't getting the permit."

The majority of "Ocean's Eleven" was filmed on the Strip, which lies outside the city's limits. Goodman would have little control over a future shoot, unless a director chose a location within the city limits.

Goodman, who holds a Screen Actors Guild card and played himself in the film "Casino," has been left on the cutting room floor by Hollywood twice this year.

His scene in "Rush Hour II" was cut after he gave Jackie Chan the key to the city, and a similar fate befell the scene in which he appeared in Ocean's.

"It was a great scene, too," Goodman said. "(Director) Steven Soderbergh had the camera himself and Wayne Newton, Danny Gans and Steve and Edie were all there.

"They had all the entertainers and they cut it," Goodman said. "If they want to film here again, forget it. They blew it. (Film producer) Jerry Weintraub isn't welcome back."

Las Vegas resident James Lewis said his enjoyment of the film wasn't hampered by Goodman's absence, although he had been looking forward to seeing KVBC-TV Channel 3's Chera Kimiko. The television news reporter could be seen only from the back of her head.

In fact, few local celebrities were noticeable, although Siegfried and Roy stood out ringside during a fight scene.

One familiar face Lewis picked out was Angie Dickinson, seated near the Las Vegas entertainers. She played the Julia Roberts' role in the original.

Lewis, a devotee of the 1960 version, said there's little point in trying to compare the old cast with the new. Frank Sinatra could never be replaced by George Clooney, he said.

"The Rat Pack were about the ultimate cool," Lewis said. "The new film tried to take that premise and build on it, and I think they were successful. But the original stands on its own."

Overall the film presented Las Vegas favorably, said Greg Griffin, adding the depiction of the casino boss as a mob-influenced villain was outdated.

"The film doesn't show how corporate we really are now," Griffin said.

Some audience members said the least believable aspect of the film wasn't the complex scams involved in robbing the casino vaults. It was the well-dressed extras populating the Bellagio lobby.

Tourists in sandals armed with video cameras are the norm, not striking couples in glamourous evening clothes, one man noted following the 12:30 p.m. showing at the Palms.

The extras' attire may not have been entirely accurate, but Joanna Dodd of Las Vegas said the excitement and energy of the casinos were clearly captured.

"They got it exactly right," Dodd said Sunday.

Staff writer Erin Neff contributed to this story.