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'Oceans 8' Sets Its Sight On The World's Biggest Fashion Event

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Danny Ocean and his evergrowing team of con artists in "Ocean's Eleven," then "Ocean's Twelve," then "Ocean's Thirteen" - they conned movie audiences out of more than $1 billion at the box office. So what's next - well, oddly enough, not "Ocean's Fourteen." Instead, the series has opted for a slimmed-down "Ocean's 8" with an all-new, all-woman crew of con artists. Turns out, says critic Bob Mondello, Danny Ocean had a sister.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: And like her brother, Debbie Ocean begins her first movie by sweet-talking a parole board.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "OCEAN'S 8")

SANDRA BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) If I were to be released, I would just want the simple life. I just want to hold down a job, make some friends, you know, pay my bills.

MONDELLO: She's had years in the slammer to perfect that little speech. And paying bills - not actually on her agenda. Just to get back in the groove, she heads to Bergdorfs (ph) and pulls off a con so smooth and effortless I'm guessing real department store guards will have their hands full for the next six months. But Debbie Ocean, played by Sandra Bullock, did not use her quiet time in solitary to figure out ways to get free perfume. She has designs on the biggest fashion event in the world.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "OCEAN'S 8")

BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) In 3 1/2 weeks, the Met will be hosting its annual ball, and we are going to rob it.

MONDELLO: She's speaking here to a team that includes light-fingered Awkwafina...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "OCEAN'S 8")

BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) Can I get my watch back, please?

AWKWAFINA: (As Constance) Sorry.

BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) It's OK.

MONDELLO: ...Super-hacker Rihanna...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "OCEAN'S 8")

BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) What's your name?

RIHANNA: (As Nine Ball) Nine Ball.

BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) What's your real name?

RIHANNA: (As Nine Ball) Eight Ball.

MONDELLO: ...Jewel-savvy Mindy Kaling...

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BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) How long would it take you to make seven pieces of jewelry?

MINDY KALING: (As Amita) Five or six hours.

BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) How long if I told you you didn't have to live with your mother anymore?

KALING: (As Amita) Less.

MONDELLO: ...And crazy-in-debt fashionista Helena Bonham Carter...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "OCEAN'S 8")

HELENA BONHAM CARTER: (As Rose Weil) I'm going to be really poor.

MONDELLO: ...Along with Cate Blanchett and Sarah Paulson all rounded up on the premise that women are so not taken seriously that they can sometimes be practically invisible - a useful quality if you're trying to steal a necklace.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "OCEAN'S 8")

CATE BLANCHETT: (As Lou) On the neck of Daphne Kluger.

MONDELLO: A necklace with 6 pounds of diamonds.

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ALEXANDER BLAISE: (As Cartier President) Valued at over a hundred...

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Million dollars.

ANNE HATHAWAY: (As Daphne Kluger) It's 150 million, actually (laughter).

MONDELLO: Anne Hathaway makes Daphne Kluger's laugh just one of many annoying things about her, which makes taking advantage of her fun in a movie that's not just a gender switch on heist flicks but a nifty takedown of celebrity culture and the fashion world. We're not in a casino this time. We're at an event that's ostensibly about women.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "OCEAN'S 8")

KALING: (As Amita) Can't we just go to this? Do we have to steal stuff?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) Yes.

MONDELLO: And that women are therefore ideally suited to infiltrate and subvert possibly because this is the first in the "Ocean" series to list a woman among its writers. Olivia Milch co-wrote with new director Gary Ross, Steven Soderbergh having slipped over to the producer's chair for this one. And they and their high-wattage stars are clearly having fun.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "OCEAN'S 8")

RIHANNA: (As Nine Ball) What's happening?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Can't get a signal.

SARAH PAULSON: (As Tammy) Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.

BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) Sometimes you have to jiggle it.

PAULSON: (As Tammy) Every time you move it we have to start from scratch.

BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) Sometimes you have to...

SANDRA BULLOCK AND SARAH PAULSON: (As Debbie Ocean and Tammy) What did you do?

RIHANNA: (As Nine Ball) I turned it on.

BULLOCK AND PAULSON: (As Debbie Ocean and Tammy) Oh.

MONDELLO: They're having enough fun, in fact, that there's bound to be talk of giving them their own sequel. "Ocean's 8" is positioned, you'll note, just far enough from the Danny Ocean "Eleven," "Twelve" and "Thirteen" trilogy to allow a Debbie Ocean "8," "9" and "10" trilogy before they start running into tidal trouble. Nothing's announced, but there are hints of possibly endless larceny to come.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "OCEAN'S 8")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Is it genetic? Are the whole family like this?

BULLOCK: (As Debbie Ocean) Literally.

MONDELLO: Unless, of course, it's all a con. I'm Bob Mondello. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Bob Mondello, who jokes that he was a jinx at the beginning of his critical career — hired to write for every small paper that ever folded in Washington, just as it was about to collapse — saw that jinx broken in 1984 when he came to NPR.