Day: December 2, 2004

Brad Pitt talking about Ocean’s 12 costar Catherine Zeta Jones: “I think the biggest joke was on Catherine because she actually thought we were making a movie. Being the new kid, nobody told her because she was up running lines and breaking down her character.” As always, it’s the the words in passing — the Latin term is obiter dicta — that give the game away. Pitt’s remark seems to confirm what I’ve been hearing, which is that Ocean’s 12 is a jokey romp piece and will probably prove to be something of a fast burn, playdate-wise.

The limited opening of Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby will happen two days earlier — on Wednesday, 12.15. That means Warner Bros. feels very confident about the response. They should be.

“Fascinating, full-throttle DiCaprio performance, although he really isn’t right for the role…not really. Otherwise, it’s an OCD fest that drags in the middle, is way too long, feels curiously over-cut and over-accelerated in the beginning, and, some brilliant sequences aside (like the plane crash in Beverly Hills), is, for me, a major wipe-out. A good half of it is schizy wackjob OCD stuff…OCD, OCD, itching, twitching…twelve peas on the plate, bloodshot eyes, compulsive hand-washing, the horrors of dirt and lint, urine-filled milk bottles. Howard Hughes had to be a more intriguing guy than this. Cate Blanchett is a lot of fun as Kate Hepburn, but Gwen Stefani’s hard Italian features are totally wrong for a cameo walk-on as Jean Harlow, a milk-fed Missouri girl. I saw it with a middle-aged Academy crowd, and when it was over it was like walking out of a funeral home… nobody saying anything or making eye contact, shuffling off to the garage.”