Julia Roberts and George Clooney

Ocean's 11 starts swell enough. George Clooney is at his easygoing yet hardboiled best as Danny Ocean, a paroled master thief whose plan it is to rob a trio of the biggest casinos in "America's Playground" aka Las Vegas. In explaining his reasons for the Sin City scheme, Danny says to his right-hand con man Dusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), "Why not?" Later, however, Danny's true motivation for assembling the legion of larcenous loonies is revealed. It's not only for Danny's love of money, but for the love of his ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts) who has moved in with casino owner Harry Benedict (Andy Garcia).

Not so coincidentally, it's Benedict's seemingly impregnable vault that the Ocean's 11 crew is planning to smash and grab to the tune of over $151 million on the night of a heavyweight title fight (featuring real-life champ and high-rolling Las Vegas resident Lennox Lewis). As Dusty succinctly sums up Danny's motivation, it's all about "screwing the guy who screwed your wife."

George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould and Don Cheadle

And even this detour from the business at hand could slide if the wife was an hourglass-figured bombshell, with a face that could stop Big Ben and a body that could get him ticking again. You know, the Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Rabbit type. Sadly, the only thing Miss Roberts is capable of stopping was my interest in this movie. But attention spans be damned, onward the cameras roll as the Ocean's 11 crew executes its master plan with the kind of smug swagger that can only come from having read the last ten pages of the script.

Unfortunately for the audience, there's little to no reason to root for the current Ocean's 11 mob. Whereas the original gang (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, et al.) were loveable lugs who society had forgotten to make room for when they returned from the Korean War, the most it seems the new guys have to lose is the password to their cell phones. Not to make excuses for one bunch of crooks over another – well, this is the movies and not real life, so it's okay – but as anyone who's ever placed a bet on the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby or Academy Awards knows, it's always more exciting to root for the underdog than the favorite, no matter what the game.