Ocean’s Eight | What to Watch

Sandra Bullock’s Debbie Ocean, sister of George Clooney’s character from the Ocean’s films, plots her own breezy crime caper in this glossy spin-off

Sandra Bullock’s Debbie Ocean, sister of George Clooney’s character from the Ocean’s films, plots her own breezy crime caper in this glossy spin-off.

And it's great fun watching her do it. Brash and unabashed, newly paroled Debbie has spent her time in prison devising the heist of the century - the theft of a $150million Cartier necklace from New York City's annual Met Gala.

She wastes no time assembling her all-female crew, played by a charismatic and quirky line-up of stars. Cate Blanchett oozes androgynous rock-chick swagger as Debbie's right-hand woman, Helena Bonham Carter carries off her typically kooky bag-lady chic as a ditsy fashion designer and Anne Hathaway is a hoot as the gang's unwitting stooge, a self-absorbed A-list celebrity. Sarah Paulson's ace fence-cum-suburban mom, Rihanna's sassy hacker, Mindy Kaling's skilled jeweller and adroit pickpocket Awkwafina round out the team.

The men inevitably come off second best, save for James Corden's wily British insurance investigator, who pokes his nose into things towards the end.

When it comes to the heist itself the plotting is more than a trifle overdone, but the movie's spirit of mischief ensures the whole concoction slips down pleasantly. Indeed, it's hard not to grin at the film's panache.

The soundtrack has a jaunty snap, the dialogue crackles, and there's a tingling frisson between Bullock and Blanchett - not to mention a cheeky message of female empowerment, too.