Oceans 8 - 3 smiles

"Oceans 8" is lots of fun, a heist movie with an all-female cast, one that follows the Ocean's blueprint with a highly decorated cast (three Oscar winners, an Emmy winner and an eight-time Grammy winner) taking down a major score. The film is slick, efficient and clever enough to stay a step or two ahead of the audience. If you're looking for too much more, you should find a different movie. Sandra Bullock is Debbie Ocean, sister to Danny (George Clooney in Steven Soderbergh's three Oceans movies). Debbie is just getting out of prison as the movie opens, and Danny, we learn, has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Not long after Debbie's release she's planning a big job and she first goes to Lou (Cate Blanchett), who plays Brad Pitt to her Clooney. Debbie explains to Lou that she plans to steal a $150 million diamond necklace from the annual Met Gala, the swankiest get together on the social calendar. Lou has her doubts, but she eventually goes along with the plan. They assemble  crew comprised of Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter), a down-on-her-luck fashion designer; Amita (Mindy Kaling), a diamond expert; 9-Ball (Rihanna), hacker; Tammy (Sarah Paulson), fence; Constance (Nora 'Awkwafina" Lum), pickpocket. Their mark is Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway), an actress who will be attending the Gala. The plan is for Rose to design her outfit and to get Cartier to loan her the prize necklace and then swipe it when the time is right, replacing it with an imitation. For their troubles, everyone walks away with a cool $16.5 million.

Director Gary Ross is faithful to Soderbergh's Ocean trilogy and keeps things moving along at a zippy pace. There's not much time for character development although Hathaway's spoiled actress gives her the most to chew on. The heist is pulled off with precision, but there's little sense of danger or failure (a little more tension would have been good). And while James Corden's insurance investigator is sharp, he poses little threat. "Ocean's 8" is a good time and that's why you would see this movie.