This is the first Ocean’s movie I’ve ever seen and it’s good enough that it almost makes me want to watch the others but then I remember there are so many other movies in the world and I don’t need to watch “group of men do an action thing with maybe token woman 47” because I’ve seen heist movies and I’m meh on them.

Look, I know this is the pandering sister in a movie series of masculine drama and intrigue. I know that the guys having issues with the Gillette ad also probably boycotted this movie. But finally, finally, they made me care to watch an Ocean’s movie. For most of my life I have just. not. cared. about heist movies. They are painfully formulaic and somehow manage to cast a bunch of guys and not a single one for me to fantasize about.

I’m not naive. I know I’m not the target audience for those movies. But man, just give me one shirtless, emotionally complex guy who doesn’t go to jail as his sole hobby or whose entire personality isn’t “knows guns” and maybe I’d watch your movie where a handful of men and a token someone or other who can occasionally be female as long as she’s sleeping with someone find a target and get a van and convince that one person they need who didn’t want to get involved and something goes wrong and they overcome the double-cross and maybe someone gets hurt or dies and the twist at the end and yay they are successful.

Again, I understand. I love rom-coms. I watch the Bachelor. I read romance novels. Formulas make money. Clichés are comforting. But I digress. The whole point was to say, you finally got me to pay to watch a heist film for the first time in years by giving me a female cast of actresses I like. Good job capturing a different slice of the market.

And here’s the thing. It actually was a good movie. It wasn’t a bunch of jokes about women or women vs men or sex jokes. It was just a heist movie with a cast that kept me engaged. Also, dresses and jewelry.

Loved seeing Mindy Kaling in this because she is darling. Not a single person did a bad job, to me. Even the guys I don’t remember seemed fine. The cast meshed and sold me that they had the skill sets they were assigned. Bare minimum for success but I’m not going to apply a standard to this movie that I wouldn’t apply to any other heist movie.

Do you like heist movies and are okay seeing women leads where they stay clothed? Then this movie likely hits the notes you need. Do you dislike heist movies but like the actresses? Then maybe worth your time still. It doesn’t require you to have seen any of the other movies in the series but it does tie to some back story in a lightly explained way.

Verdict: 4/5 Delivers exactly what it promises while being approachable for new viewers, nothing groundbreaking but maybe it’s good that not every movie that breaks gender norms has to be above and beyond or have some weird extra dimension to it