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April 20, 2005
Gobbledygook
As you've probably guessed, I went to Best Buy the other day and picked up the DVD of Ocean's Twelve. I enjoy this movie, and though it is definitely not the same as Ocean's Eleven, I still think it's a pretty good heist movie - unlike The Italian Job, which was just dreadful.
My favorite part, though, about Ocean's Twelve is the way that Matt Damon's character Linus continually acts like the titular group of thieves are simply a small business, and he is some sort of young executive who plans to take over the company one day. He asks Ruben about his "leadership potential," pumps Danny and Rusty for advice, and refers to what type of "organization" they should be.
The best example of this is near the end (spoiler alert, or something), when they fly Tess into Rome to take part in the robbery. Linus tells her, "Due to certain personnel losses that we have sustained," they need her to pose as a certain celebrity.
After seeing this a few times, I can't tell if Linus's corporate speak is meant to mock actual corporations, or just some goofy schtick. I think it shows that all of that lingo is nothing but a bunch of bull-plop. Those power phrases and -isms and -izes are meant to make a simple concept sound mighty.
Instead of saying, "everyone else is in jail, and you are our last resort," Linus goes on about personnel losses. You, Linus Caldwell, have exposed it to be the mumbo-jumbo that it is. That's a valuable lesson for you corporate types out there. You've got a good future, son.
entry no. 81
Posted at April 20, 2005 08:57 AM