One of the first books I clearly remember enjoying thoroughly was The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted. It’s a delightful little story – part of a series – about a slightly foul-mouthed, slightly alcoholic, very stylish interstellar thief. Ever since, I’ve wanted to be an interstellar thief. Since we’re all still earth-bound I’ve had to settle for being a sucker for incredibly stylish caper films. The two recent Ocean’s films are excellent examples of the genre.
It’s been a long time since I saw Ocean’s Eleven and for anyone who hasn’t seen it at all you’ll be even more lost than I was. No backstory, no character introductions, no exposition, just straight into a story of betrayal, egos, thievery and celebrity worship all done with swanky tunes and tongue-in-cheek acting worthy of the Rat Pack.
I am definitely making it a point to not only buy Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven but to check out Frankie and Deano in the original.
It’ll have to sustain me until someone finally discovers the pure genius of The Stainless Steel Rat and puts him up on screen.