List of Ocean's (film series) characters
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This is a list of characters from Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Trilogy, starting in 2001 with Ocean's Eleven, followed by 2004's Ocean's Twelve and finalized in 2007 with Ocean's Thirteen.
The Eleven
Danny Ocean
A gentleman-thief from New York, who is the ringleader and idea man of the crew that robs three casinos in Ocean’s Eleven, a Fabergé egg in Ocean’s Twelve and award diamonds in Ocean’s Thirteen, in addition to conning a businessman into losing millions of dollars on the opening night of his new casino.
Danny is played by George Clooney.
Rusty Ryan
Rusty is Danny’s right-hand man, although it is more than implied in Twelve that Rusty is the logistical heart of all the crew’s operations, handling the details of the day-to-day operations while Danny is more big picture. Very often shown eating some kind of fast food, his skills are used more in the planning phase of the heists, although he takes on disguises in Eleven and Thirteen. Ironically, his former girlfriend Isabel is what gets the team in trouble in Twelve, despite Rusty condemning Danny’s efforts to win back an ex-wife in Eleven.
Rusty is played by Brad Pitt.
Linus Caldwell
The son of a legendary con artist, Linus is one of two newcomers to Danny’s crew, recruited by Danny in person after demonstrating his pickpocket skills – which will be one of the essential parts of the elaborate heist. Throughout the trilogy, Linus repeatedly makes attempts to gain respect as a leader figure of the crew, almost to the point of obsession. At various times, he seems to succeed: he outsmarts Danny in Eleven by bringing new batteries for the explosives, and in Twelve gets a chance to run things when half the crew end up in prison. In Thirteen, he even takes on the challenge of wooing a woman, despite not being the charmer of the gang (which is mentioned to be Rusty), though he uses a "Gilroy," a chemical aid, for this trick, and likewise, all his positive attempts at gaining control are playfully backed down by Danny and Rusty, most notably in the meeting with Matsui in Twelve where they trick Linus into believing he offended Matsui with his Kashmir lyrics.
Linus is played by Matt Damon.
Reuben Tishkoff
A flamboyant business kingpin, Reuben is an old school business tycoon who gets muscled out of his Vegas hotel by Terry Benedict, which is the reason he finances the expensive casino-caper. He appears to be pushed over again in Thirteen, when he is forced out of a partnership by Willy Bank, leading to a breakdown that ignites Ocean’s revenge plot against Bank. His cunning business instinct is proved however, by the fact that he was the only one to make money out of his take in the Bellagio-heist (on the stock market) rather than lose money. While his good heartedness may have cost him these two business ventures, it appears to be exactly his appeal amongst the thieves, who make very clear in Thirteen their appreciation, with Danny and Rusty going so far as to imply Reuben was a mentor to them.
Tishkoff is played by Elliott Gould.
Saul Bloom
Saul is an ulcerous old pro, who is brought out of retirement to play a crucial role in the casino-heist, playing “Lyman Zerga”, an arms dealer with a special delivery he needs to be located in the casino-vault. His presence ensures the team of a member watching the security cameras and getting the explosives into the vault. In Twelve, Saul initially refuses to go along with the pan-European caper, but ultimately shows up as a Swiss doctor in the Lookie-loo con. In Thirteen, Saul plays “Kensington Chubb”, a hotel reviewer.
He is portrayed by Carl Reiner.
Basher Tarr
Basher is the munitions expert of the team. Talking with a heavy cockney accent, often in rhyming slang, Basher is more in it for the thrills than for the money, even calling Rusty and Danny ‘proper villains’ as opposed to the fools he unsuccessfully tries to rob a bank with in Eleven. He is brought in to create the blackout necessary for Danny and Linus to get down the elevator shaft in Eleven, and simulates an earthquake with a drilling machine in Thirteen.
Basher is played by Don Cheadle.
Frank Catton
An old acquaintance of Danny and Rusty, Frank is an experienced card dealer who has left his mark in various Vegas casinos. He is the first to be recruited for the Bellagio-plan. He is shown to have an affinity for manicures, which even leads to his arrest in Twelve. His lack of participation in Twelve is made up for by his central role in the two casino-heists: first as the inside man at the Bellagio, later as a game host in Bank’s casino. The simulated quarrel with Linus’ NGC-persona results in the latter pick pocketing the vault codes out of Benedict's jacket.
Frank is played by Bernie Mac. Although Ocean's 13 was the last in the series anyway, the producers of the franchise said that since Bernie Mac (Frank's portrayer) has passed away, they wouldn't want to do another film without him.
Livingston Dell
Livingston is the tech-guy, a surveillance specialist who just as easily moonlights for the FBI. While a genius with computers, connections, cameras, etc., Livingston’s anxiety threatens the success of the Bellagio-heist. Despite his nervousness, he passes a polygraph test in Thirteen, although he fails to rig the card shuffling machines and secretly calls Roman Nagel for help.
Livingston is played by Eddie Jemison.
The Malloy Brothers
Living in Provo, Utah, the Malloy brothers—or "the Mormon twins" -- are brought in by Ocean for their talent to adapt to any character, willingness to do the small cons and for the transportation. The chemistry of the brothers consists of a constant state of arguing and bickering, which continues into their acts – often to their advantage. Their knowledge of remote control cars is used in Eleven.
Virgil and Turk are played by Casey Affleck and Scott Caan.
The Amazing Yen
The Chinese acrobat Yen is the second of two newbies in the group, called a “grease man” by Danny and Rusty, brought in for his flexibility and short posture. He is the first to actually enter the heavily guarded en secured casino-vault, brought into the underground backstage tunnels while confined in a money-cart cunningly delivered by the Malloy brothers, while being watched by Saul’s Lyman Zerga character. Once inside, Yen places the explosives from Zerga’s briefcase on the vault door, waiting for Danny and Linus to trigger it from the outside. His newfound wealth after the heist results in him inhabiting a huge Florida mansion, dressing up with a lot of bling. His specific skills are much less necessary in the subsequent heists, though in Thirteen he is responsible for climbing up an elevator shaft.
Yen, played by real life acrobat Qin Shaobo, only generally speaks in Mandarin, which almost everyone in the gang can understand, and can understand English. His only lines in the movies that are English are filled with cuss words, such as in Eleven when he shouts to Danny and Linus "Where the fuck you been?", and in Thirteen, where the only word he says in English, repeated several times, is "Shit."
Antagonists
Terry Benedict
Benedict is the slick casino-owner of three Las Vegas casinos (Bellagio, MGM Grand Las Vegas and The Mirage). Having a romantic relationship with Tess Ocean makes him the perfect mark for Danny’s big plan. After the major heist, he vows to get those responsible. It is not until he gets help from the mysterious “Night Fox” that he actually does, and reluctantly offers them two weeks to cough up all the money they owe him (plus interest) before hurting them. While still an antagonist of the team, he is recruited in Thirteen (and therefore possibly the twelfth member of the crew in this particular scheme) after Danny’s crew runs out of money halfway through the Bank-con. Fearing Willy Bank’s competition, Benedict agrees to back the operation financially, with his own demands – yet sets up the Night Fox to double cross the team. Terry’s ruthlessness, exemplified most by his choice for his lost vault money over Tess, is ironically opposed by his forced performance as a philanthropist on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Benedict is played by Andy García.
François Toulour
Best known alias, “Night Fox”, Toulour is a French Baron and master thief, whose skills are rivaled only by Danny Ocean. His ego triggers him to force Ocean’s crew into a competition. He sets the team up by telling Terry Benedict of their whereabouts, and, challenges the team to determine who is the best thief, promising to pay off their debt to Benedict if he loses. While he manages to steal the target, a Fabergé egg, he later learns the egg he stole was fake and the team beat him to it. Toulour is humiliated, but pays off Benedict. He reappears in Benedict's service, attempting to foil Danny’s heist of the diamond awards in The Bank hotel. The opposite of Ocean, Toulour specializes as a Cat Burglar; as such, his jobs are more physically demanding and seemingly carried out by him alone, whereas Ocean prefers using the 'Long Con' approach to slowly manipulate the situation to his favor.
Toulour is played by Vincent Cassel.
Willy Bank
Bank is a successful and experienced hotel owner, whose every previous hotel has won a prestigious award. He serves as the main antagonist of the third film. He thinks of himself as a credible old-timer, for he “once shook Sinatra’s hand”. After backstabbing Reuben, his soon-to-be-opened hotel-casino becomes the final target for Ocean’s eleven.
Bank is played by Al Pacino.
The Women
Tess Ocean
Having filed for divorce during her husband’s four year prison term, Tess moves away from New York and becomes the curator of the Bellagio art gallery. She also begins a relationship with Terry Benedict, resulting in the jealousy of her ex-husband Danny. Unknowingly, she plays a small part in the casino heist when a cell phone is put in her coat. After realizing Danny loves her more than Terry, she goes back to him and awaits him coming out of his second prison sentence (for violating his parole). In Twelve, although Tess seems to accept her husband’s never-ending search for potential targets, she still demands her husband to take their lives more seriously, but is thrown into the game of stealing by invitation of Linus, who needs her in the museum heist as she bears a striking resemblance to actress Julia Roberts. After she and Danny are reunited she makes him apologize for forcing her into doing something wrong.
Tess is played by Julia Roberts and is generally considered to be Ocean’s twelfth member in the second film.
Isabel Lahiri
Only mentioned in Eleven as Rusty’s ex-girlfriend, Isabel appears in Twelve as an agent for Europol living in Amsterdam specializing in major robberies, on the hunt for the Night Fox while admirably commemorating the all time master thief Gaspar LeMarque. Her expertise, it appears, comes from her estranged father, who was, in fact, LeMarque himself, a negative legacy Isabel seems to want to break away from. However, she loved Rusty too much to give him up – before he runs off. At their next meeting, when Rusty’s in Amsterdam doing a job with the Ocean crew, she is much less forgiving, and eventually chases the men all the way to Rome.
Isabel is played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Isabel and Tess do not appear in Thirteen, as Danny states it is “not their fight” (referring to the revenge on Willy Bank).
Abigail Sponder
Miss Sponder is Willy Bank’s right-hand-woman, appearing to be cold and strict, only to be seduced by Linus (in disguise) wearing a chemical substance. She deeply appreciates Bank on a platonic level, although the sentiments are not reciprocated.
Abigail is played by Ellen Barkin.
Aides
The following helpers of the Ocean's crew generally do not know the entire master plan of each film's con, or do not share in the final loot (or so it is implied). Nevertheless, many of them could take claim to being a member of Ocean's evergrowing team, going as far as sixteen known associates in Ocean's Thirteen, rather than the 13 the title implies.
Bruiser
Next to Ocean’s original eleven, Denny Shields and Terry Benedict, Bruiser is the only character to appear in all three films, each time as a small aide in the plan, presumably without knowing the magnitude of the overall scheme. In Eleven, he is paid $2 million by Danny to fake beating him up. In Twelve, he appears in Amsterdam as a lawyer getting Frank Catton out of jail. In Thirteen, he plays a high roller.
Bruiser is played by Scott L. Schwartz.
Roman Nagel
Roman Nagel is a British master thief whom Rusty and Frank had worked with in the past. A technological genius, he makes the holographic Fabergé egg in Twelve, and comes back in Thirteen mainly for advice on nearly all the cons planned for the reversed big store.
Nagel is played by Eddie Izzard.
Matsui
When Rusty tricks the gang into going to Amsterdam for a job, Danny, Rusty and Linus meet up with Matsui to hear the details – hoping for a better paying job once the first one is executed. Matsui, however, was recruited by Toulour to send the Ocean-team on a heist the Night Fox performs himself. The meeting with Matsui, taking place in coffee shop De Dampkring, is composed of seemingly senseless phrases – or so it appears. It is later revealed the sign language is a practical joke ("Lost in Translation") pulled on Linus as a reminder for him not to be too eager on the team’s leadership.
Matsui is played by Robbie Coltrane.
Molly Stark
When the Ocean-crew is in jail in Italy after the failed theft of the Coronation egg in Twelve, the local justiciary hands them over to an American official demanding their extradition. It is revealed after the prison scene that Molly is in fact Linus’ mother.
Molly Stark is played by Cherry Jones.
Gaspar LeMarque
The mysterious all time master thief mentioned by Isabel as an example for all active robbers, LeMarque actually plays a crucial part in the entire operation carried out by Ocean’s eleven in Twelve. He pits the Night Fox against the Ocean crew with his master plan, which results in him getting back the Coronation Egg he once stole but gave back because his wife insisted on it; the Ocean crew getting their money from the Night Fox needed to pay back Benedict; and LeMarque getting reacquainted with his estranged daughter.
LeMarque is played by Albert Finney.
Debbie
She is a receptionist at The Bank in Thirteen, and after being promised a managing function in another hotel, agrees to help the crew in a variety of small ways in their elaborate con, thus functioning as an inside-(wo)man.
Debbie is played by Olga Sosnovska.
Bobby Caldwell
Mentioned in the first two films as a legendary con artist and personal friend of the likes of Ruben and Danny, Bobby Caldwell is Linus's father. He makes an appearance in Thirteen as an FBI-agent working on casino fraud cases, but ultimately helps Linus in his final attempt to steal the diamonds out of a penthouse suite.
Caldwell is played by Bob Einstein.
Others
Topher Grace
The film actor is one of several TV-stars making a cameo appearance in Eleven as poker-students being taught the game by Rusty, but makes another small appearance as himself in Twelve as a visitor of Rusty's ill-fated west coast hotel, having thrashed his room and appearing under the influence of drugs or alcohol, stating he “phoned in that Dennis Quaid-movie” (a reference to In Good Company, the trailer of which was shown before Ocean's Twelve.)
Walsh
Casino-manager in Benedict's casino, who stays with Lyman Zerga during his heart attack.
Played by Michael Delano in Eleven and Twelve.
Commissario Giordano
He refuses Isabel the necessary arrest papers for the Ocean's crew, after which she forges them. This will prove useful later on, when Giordano denies Lahiri any rights to interrogate the thieves, rather turning them over to a US official.
Played by Mattia Sbragia in Twelve.
Bruce Willis
Plays himself visiting Rome, and running into Tess-as-Julia Roberts. After many characters comment to Willis they foresaw the surprise twist of his most successful movie, Willis himself claims to have known the museum con (the “Lookie-loo with a Bundle of Joy”) all along.
Denny Shields
Played by Jerry Weintraub, the producer of the trilogy. He merely makes a cameo as a high roller in Eleven, but this was turned into a more significant role in the sequels. In Twelve, in flashback, we see him (still unnamed) bragging to LeMarque about Danny's Bellagio-heist, calling him the best thief he has ever seen. In hindsight, this remark may be the kick start of all events in the second movie, as François Toulour is witness to the remark, and because of his jealousy begins to stage the complex “steal-off” with Danny, involving Terry Benedict along the way. In Thirteen, Weintraub returns as this character, this time called Shields, being more involved in Ocean's heist on Willie Bank, partially out of guilt for getting Ocean's group in trouble in Twelve.
V.U.P.
Short for Very Unimportant Person, he is the real Five Diamond reviewer, who is the unwilling target of harassment and embarrassment by Danny's team in order for him to give Willy Bank's casino a disastrous review – tricking the casino owner into believing Kensington Chubb (see Saul Bloom) is the actual reviewer. Rusty does make it up to the poor man at the airport by rigging a slot machine, which gives him eleven million dollars.
Played by David Paymer.
See also
- Ocean's Eleven (1960 original)
External links
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