2004
Character: Rusty Ryan
Release Date: 16 December 2004
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh
Written By: George Clayton Johnson, Jack Golden Russell, George Nolfi
Genre: Comedy/Crime/Thriller
Tagline: You cross one ocean, you face them all
MPAA Rating: –
Produced by: Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Jerry Weintraub Productions, Section Eight, WV Films III
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures, CBS Television, Fox-Warner, Warner Bros.
Budget: $110,000,000 (estimated)
Filming Dates: 12 August 2004
Cast:
…Brad Pitt…Rusty Ryan
…Catherine Zeta-Jones…Isabel Lahiri
…George Clooney…Danny Ocean
…Julia Roberts…Tess Ocean
…Andy Garcia…Terry Benedict
…Casey Affleck…Virgil Malloy
…Scott Caan…Turk Malloy
…Shaobo Qin…Yen
…Bernie Mac…Frank Catton
…Don Cheadle…Basher Tarr
…Matt Damon…Linus Caldwell
…Carl Reiner…Saul Bloom
…Eddie Jemison…Livingston Dell
…Elliott Gould…Reuben Tishkoff
Filming Locations:
‘s-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands (City Hall used as Europol office)
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Bannockburn, Illinois, USA
Beverly Hills, California, USA
Cernobbio, Como, Lombardia, Italy (Villa Erba)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Haarlem, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (station used as being Amsterdam Centraal Station)
Highwood, Illinois, USA
Lake Forest Bank & Trust, Lake Forest, Illinois, USA
Lake Forest, Illinois, USA
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Lincolnwood, Illinois, USA
Los Angeles, California, USA
Monaco
Paris, France
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Scopello, Castellammare del Golfo, Trapani, Sicily, Italy
Sicily, Italy
Warner Brothers Burbank Studios – 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA (studio)
Waukegan, Illinois, USA
Winnetka, Illinois, USA
Synopsis:
Set three years after “Ocean’s 11,” this sequel shows us Danny Ocean gathering up his complete gang of con artists and thieves from the first film in New York City before they all jet off to Amsterdam, Rome, and Paris to pull off three seperate heists. All the while, the boys must deal with increasing pressure from a very mad Terry Benedict, a dedicated Europol agent with a link to Rusty’s past, and a mysterious French rival known as the “Night Fox.” Will Ocean’s crew reach their full potential and become the greatest thieves the world has ever known, or will they fall victim to Benedict’s revenge? All bets are off.
Trivia & Facts:
• Bruce Willis, who appears as himself in the film, was originally signed to play Danny Ocean in Ocean’s Eleven (2001), but pulled out due to scheduling conflicts.
• The story of this film was taken from “Honor Among Thieves”, a screenplay treatment written by George Nolfi that was originally intended to be a John Woo vehicle. When it was decided that Ocean’s Eleven (2001) was going to have a sequel, Warner Bros. asked Nolfi to rewrite the script, adjusting it for the Ocean’s Eleven characters.
• While on production in Rome, Brad Pitt and George Clooney were not allowed back into the hotel because the doorman thought they were vagrants after the actors were caught in a rain storm while jogging.
• Shooting in the Netherlands caused some train delays. The Thalys that was used in the film accidentally broke the upper contact wire. Since the wire broke at the point where several wires connected, the power on several tracks was lost. It took two hours to undo the damage.
• Some scenes which were supposed to be at the Amsterdam station were filmed at Haarlem train station (20 km away). Signs on the platform indicate “Amsterdam centraal” but on the real platform it says “Haarlem Centraal”.
• When filming scenes in Sicily, security was tightened because several members of the Sicilian mafia were seen roaming near the shooting locations.
• The Night Fox’s mansion is on the shores of Lake Como in Italy. The name of the city overlooking Lake Como is Bellagio. The city and the lake were the inspiration for the design of the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas, site of the heist in Ocean’s Eleven (2001).
• Topher Grace, playing himself in an uncredited role, says, “I totally phoned in that Dennis Quaid movie.” The movie he is referring to is In Good Company (2004), which was one of the trailers before this film in many movie theaters.
• Matt Damon requested just prior to the beginning of production that the script be revised so that his character would have a smaller role in the story. Damon had just finished shooting The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and claimed that he was too exhausted to play a character that had such a major role in the movie. Director Steven Soderbergh denied Damon’s request, claiming that he felt Damon’s character was integral to the plot and that giving Damon less screen time would diminish his character’s impact on the plot.
• When Linus finally speaks to the gibberish-tooting Matsui, the words he speaks are from the Led Zeppelin song “Kashmir”, as Rusty is quick to point out when they step outside. (“Kashmir?”)
• The cell phone that Brad Pitt’s character uses in the film (and which is stolen by Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a Siemens S65.
• Peter Fonda filmed a cameo as Bobby Caldwell, Linus’s father, but it didn’t make the final cut.
• Brad Pitt and George Clooney dress up in the traveling outfits of London football team Arsenal FC, while Yen gets transported in a travel bag carrying the Arsenal crest.
• During the sequence the audience is re-introduced to the characters, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) is getting a tarot card reading. On the table, the card “Five of Wands” out of the Raider Waite deck can be seen. This card mainly symbolizes an upcoming competition between two parts.
• The drysuits used by the gang were custom made for the production in two weeks by husband-and-wife team Gareth and Tina Roberts of Gryphon Watersports in Staffordshire, England. Only one of the ten suits ordered had to be fully functioning and waterproof, but the tight deadline still meant that the couple had to work round the clock to get the suits ready in time for the shoot in Amsterdam.
• Before filming began, Brad Pitt put out a memo to all crew members stating that they only address George Clooney as his character’s name Danny Ocean or Mr. Ocean. Eventually Clooney found out about this and got back at Pitt by putting bumper stickers on the back of his car that read “I’m gay and I vote” and “Small penis on board”.
• Contains spoiler for The Sixth Sense (1999)
• During the scene on the train platform, Danny and Basher discuss Danny’s age. The trailer features more lines between the two of them from this same scene, which did not make it into the final movie.
• Rusty’s cell phone ring tone is “Pretty in Pink” by the Psychedelic Furs.
• In the rough working draft of the script, Clint Eastwood was penciled in for a cameo appearance to play the role of Matt Damon’s (Linus Caldwell’s) father, Bobby Caldwell.
• The video camera that Yen uses while in the hotel room is a Canon XL1S. For director Steven Soderbergh’s low-budget/star-studded indie film Full Frontal (2002), he used the same camcorder to shoot the film and keep the budget low.
• When Bruce Willis is in Tess’s hotel room, Linus says to Bruce, “We’re looking to come off this pregnancy thing strong. You know, that little statue on the mantle starts smirking at you after a while, know what I mean?” Bruce says no, he doesn’t. Both ‘Julia Roberts’ , whom he refers to, and Matt Damon have been awarded Oscars, while Willis has not.
• The mark for the first theft in Amsterdam is named van der Woude. One of the second unit assistant directors for the film was Basti Van Der Woude. He actually appears briefly in one scene, as the taller of the two suit-wearing gentlemen accompanying Cherry Jones.
• The white van in which the Fabergé egg is being transported in, is actually from an existing security company, whose name is visible on the side in certain shots (Group 4 Falck). They handle security and emergency services (ambulance and fire brigade) in the UK and Denmark.
• Europol is located in The Hague, and not in Amsterdam, as suggested in the movie. The scenes at the Europol office with Isabel were not shot in the Europol building, but rather in the city hall of The Hague. The Hague is about 50km south of Amsterdam.
• The museum intended to be robbed has the name “Galleria D’Arte di Roma” on the outside, but the building is not actually one of the countless museums in Rome (although some exhibitions are held there), but rather the British School at Rome located in the lands of Villa Borghese.
• The necklace that Brad Pitt wears in the movie is a replica of his wedding ring that he wore while married to Jennifer Aniston.
• In the scene while the crew is brainstorming the first heist attempt, Reuben asks Danny and the crew, “Anybody remember that scene in Miller’s Crossing when John Turturro begs for his life?” George Clooney (Danny Ocean) co-starred with John Torturro in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”(2000).
From the gallery
Quotes
Linus Caldwell: Hey, can I ask you something? You ever notice that…
Rusty Ryan: If you’re gonna ask if you can ask me a question, give me time to respond. Unless you’re asking rhetorically, in which case the answer is obvious – yes.
Linus Caldwell: Okay, can I ask you…
Rusty Ryan: Yes.
Linus Caldwell: Thanks. You ever notice that Tess looks…
Rusty Ryan: Ooh, don’t ever ask that. Ever. Seriously. Not to anyone, especially not to her.
Linus Caldwell: Wait, why not?
Rusty Ryan: Look, it’s not in my nature to be mysterious. But I can’t talk about it and I can’t talk about why.
[walks off]
Linus Caldwell: Oooooooooo.
Linus Caldwell: What did I say?
Danny Ocean: You called his niece a whore.
Rusty Ryan: A very cheap one.
Danny Ocean: She’s seven.
[first lines]
Rusty Ryan: Hi.
Isabel Lahiri: How’d it go?
Rusty Ryan: Lousy.
Virgil Malloy: Doesn’t this guy believe in fresh air?
Rusty Ryan: He opens the second floor window every now and then.
Virgil Malloy: What does that mean?
Rusty Ryan: It means he opens the second floor window every now and then.
Danny Ocean: What are you doing?
Rusty Ryan: Sleeping. Why are you dressed?
Danny Ocean: It’s 5:30, day of. Gotta go, let’s go!
Rusty Ryan: It’s 11:30. The night before.
Danny Ocean: [realizes he was given a prank wake-up call by Toulour]
Rusty Ryan: Oh! Oh he’s mean. He’s just mean spirited. All right, how many espressos have you had?
Danny Ocean: Five.
Rusty Ryan: Of course, we haven’t considered the most obvious solution.
Danny Ocean: Oh yeah?
Rusty Ryan: We could turn ourselves in. Go to jail. Nothing Benedict could do to us there.
Danny Ocean: Yeah, good idea. We all go to the cops and confess to the Bellagio robbery. That averages twenty years for grand larceny for each of us. Yeah, that’d teach him.
Rusty Ryan: A doctor who specializes in skin diseases will dream that he has fallen asleep in front of the television. Later, he will wake up in front of the television, but not remember his dream.
Matsui: [to Linus Caldwell] Would you agree?
Terry Benedict: The last time we talked, you hung up on me.
Rusty Ryan: You used nasty words.
Assistant Manager: After the second call, I tried knocking, but he won’t open up.
Rusty Ryan: I’ll handle it; I know him
[bangs on hotel room door]
Topher Grace: [from inside] Jesus Christ, are you people retarded? It says “Do Not Disturb!”
Rusty Ryan: It’s me.
Topher Grace: [opens the door] Hey. Come on in.
Rusty Ryan: [looks around the trashed hotel room] Jeez, Topher, you didn’t have to go all Frankie Muniz on me.
Topher Grace: I’m sorry. Russ, look, I know this is your joint. I just… there’s this girl. I love her, man. I love her, but she is driving me crazy! I can’t sleep. I can’t work. I quit the show. I totally phoned in that Dennis Quaid movie. I mean, it’s like…
Assistant Manager: [answers phone] Hello?
Topher Grace: [rips off a bracelet] God, it’s almost like this Kabbalah crap doesn’t even work!
Assistant Manager: Rusty, call for you.
Topher Grace: Dude, don’t leave!
Rusty Ryan: Anybody remember that scene in Miller’s Crossing when John Turturro begs for his life?
Reuben Tishkoff: Sure, “Look into your heart.”
[pause]
Reuben Tishkoff: I cry every time.
Danny Ocean: What?
Rusty Ryan: We have no line of sight.
External Links
…IMDB
SB Store (US)
…Ocean’s Twelve (Blu-ray)
…Ocean’s Twelve (DVD)
SB Store (UK)
…Ocean’s Twelve (DVD)
…Ocean’s Twelve (Blu-ray)
…Ocean’s Twelve (HD DVD)
…Ocean’s Twelve (2 Disc Edition)
