{"id":34258,"date":"2022-10-10T00:31:12","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T07:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/?p=34258"},"modified":"2022-10-10T01:00:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T08:00:07","slug":"oceans-eleven-lingo-inspires-fun-way-to-explore-las-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/oceans-eleven-lingo-inspires-fun-way-to-explore-las-vegas\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ocean’s Eleven” Lingo Inspires Fun Way to Explore Las Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Ocean’s Eleven” is everyone’s favorite Las Vegas movie, and we can confidently say this simple sentence is likely to result in weeks of passionate debate, but that’s not really the point of this story.<\/p>\n

Among the many ingenious elements of “Ocean’s Eleven” was a one-sentence overview, just 12 minutes into the film, of the casino robbery to come.<\/p>\n

Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is discussing the heist with Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), who says, “Off the top of my head, I’d say you’re looking at a Boesky, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethros and a Leon Spinks, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald, ever.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
Oh, boo-hoo. So, it’s not the most flattering photo of the world’s handsomest man. He’ll survive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The line flies by, but this con man shorthand tells you everything you need to know about the rest of the film, as long as you know how to translate it. We’ve got you!<\/p>\n

Here’s a handy break down of the con code in “Ocean’s Eleven.” We’ll get back to the “fun way to explore Las Vegas” in a minute.<\/p>\n

“Boesky”<\/h2>\n

Rusty’s referring to Ivan Boesky, an infamous stock trader. Gordon Gekko, in “Wall Street,” was inspired by Boesky. In “Ocean’s 11,” the Boesky element of the robbery refers to Saul Bloom’s high roller, Lyman Zerga. Bloom is played by Carl Reiner.<\/p>\n

Carl Reiner cons Terry Benedict into letting him store jewels in the casino’s vault. The stones are explosives used to blast open the vault door.<\/p>\n

The fake jewels are designed by Basher, who possesses possibly the worst accent in any movie ever made. It’s a testament to “Ocean’s Eleven” that Don Cheadle’s terrible performance couldn’t ruin it.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Before he became an actor, Carl Reiner worked as a machinist fixing sewing machines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Jim Brown”<\/h2>\n

Jim Brown, of course, refers to the football player who is best known for his performance in “The Running Man.” That’s how we know him, anyway.<\/p>\n

Rusty’s mention of Jim Brown refers to Frank (played by Bernie Mac), who gets into a kerfuffle with Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon), impersonating a member of the gaming commission, thus distracting Benedict so Caldwell can steal the codes to the vault.<\/p>\n

“Miss Daisy”<\/h2>\n

This is a reference to the movie, “Driving Miss Daisy,” of course, but it’s also a hint as to how the band of thieves will make their escape: A SWAT van. We probably should’ve said “Spoiler alert!” somewhere along the way, but if you haven’t seen “Ocean’s Eleven” by now, we can’t help you.<\/p>\n

“Two Jethros”<\/h2>\n

Pop culture references abound in “Ocean’s 11,” and this mention of “Jethros” relates to “The Beverly Hillbillies.” In the classic TV show, Jethro is kind of a lunkhead, and the heist in “Ocean’s 11” will require two of them. Specifically, the Malloy brothers, Turk and Virgil.<\/p>\n

Turk and Virgil provide comic relief throughout the film, and are played by Scott Caan and Casey Affleck.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The dialogue between these two characters seemed very impromptu, a French word meaning “not especially good.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Leon Spinks”<\/h2>\n

Rusty seems to know early in the robbery planning a large-scale diversion will be needed to accomplish their plan. That diversion ends up being a boxing match.<\/p>\n

The fighters are Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko. You know, actual boxers. Like Leon Spinks. Some of this isn’t rocket science.<\/p>\n

“Ella Fitzgerald”<\/h2>\n

This one’s another pop culture reference that gets more obscure as times goes by.<\/p>\n

At one time, singer Ella Fitzgerald was featured in a commercial for Memorex. Fitzgerald breaks a glass with her voice, then a recording of her voice breaks a glass. The ad ends by asking, “Is it Ella, or is it Memorex?”<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/span>