The Big Picture

• Ocean's Twelve has comedic heists and meta humor throughout.
• Julia Roberts portrays Tess Ocean playing Julia Roberts in the funniest scene of the movie.
• Despite being the black sheep, Ocean's Twelve offers hilarious moments.

Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven films are some of the most stylish movies of this century. The remake of the classic 1960s Rat Pack flick follows the titular Danny Ocean (George Clooney), gentleman thief extraordinaire, as he and his motley crew perform ingenious heists. Much like their source material, the films boast a star-studded ensemble cast featuring some of the biggest names in Hollywood, oozing with superstar appeal. Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle. Elliot Gould, just to name a few, as the cast list is so ludicrous that it reads like the cover of an entertainment magazine. Between the films' highly stylized directing, creative storytelling, and overload of charismatic stars, there are plenty of reasons why this series of movies was a box-office juggernaut and a fan-favorite for audiences everywhere. But even with all these incredible strengths, the linchpin of this series' success is in its levity and effortless charm.

The movies are endearingly funny, embracing a lighthearted and humorous atmosphere despite the high-stakes criminal enterprise taking place, and no scene better encapsulates this than the one with Julia Roberts in Ocean's Twelve. The sequel to Ocean's Eleven is contentious among audiences, but there is one sequence so uproariously ridiculous that it stands out as the funniest scene in the entire series. With their backs against the wall and their job on the verge of failure, Ocean's crew calls in the cavalry, and what ensues is a cavalcade of meta-commentary, celebrity cameos, and slapstick humor in the most hilarious moment in the entire series.

The Funniest Scene in 'Ocean's Twelve' Was Majorly Foreshadowed

Ocean's Twelve picks up after the original 11 members of Danny's crew spent a few years resting on—or squandering—their laurels after successfully stealing millions from Las Vegas casino mogul, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). However, their reprieve is short-lived, as the vengeful multi-millionaire locates each member and gives them a two-week deadline to return their stolen millions, with interest. Out of options in the United States, the crew flies to Europe and attempts to pull off several jobs in order to get the money back, but face two unexpected adversaries: the "Night Fox," a master thief who is one step ahead of Ocean's crew, stealing their target before they get a chance, and Isabel (Catherine Zeta-Jones), an Interpol detective and former lover of Rusty. Unlike the previous film, Danny Ocean and his group are constantly on the back foot and forced to improvise, as their impending deadline looms over their strikingly empty wallets.

In the lead up to the funniest scene in the movie, there are a few recurring set-ups that were established. The first is Matt Damon's Linus, the rookie of the team, whose desire to take on more responsibility has been met with sly resistance from the more experienced Danny and Rusty (Pitt). The second is the surprisingly consistent loss of members of the crew, for one unexpected reason or another. Eventually, all but four of the crew are arrested, but even with the stakes as high as ever, there's still one more piece to the joke. Throughout the film, members of Danny's crew keep noting that Tess, Danny's wife, has a striking resemblance to someone unnamed, but are told never to mention it to her because she hates it. And with that, all the pieces are in place for the most hilarious scene in the entire movie series.

Julia Roberts Plays Tess Ocean Playing Julia Roberts in 'Ocean's Twelve'

With all but four of the original 11 behind bars, it's up to Linus, Basher (Cheadle), Saul (Carl Reiner), and Turk (Scott Caan) to complete the job of stealing the Imperial Coronation Fabergé Egg from a Roman art museum. However, without enough people to effectively pull off most of the cons in their repertoire, they end up flying Tess Ocean out to Italy in order to perform a "Looky Loo" with a "Bundle of Joy." Don't let the code names confuse you, it's actually quite a simple trick: the con essentially sees Tess playing her celebrity lookalike, Julia Roberts, to help the crew get a private viewing of the prized egg. In a hilariously meta joke, Julia Roberts plays Tess Ocean... playing Julia Roberts. Simple enough, but so, so funny.

Garbed in a wide brimmed hat, dark sunglasses, and a fake pregnant belly (Julia Roberts was actually pregnant at the time of filming, and the scene was actually rewritten to include it), it appears that Tess is able to successfully pull off the act, as mobs of paparazzi and fans swarm the hotel upon her arrival. That is, however, until they run into none other than Bruce Willis, played by himself, staying at the same hotel. As Julia Roberts' real-life friend, Bruce Willis meets up with the "fake" Julia in a surprisingly slapstick sequence; the crew tries to distract The Sixth Sense star from noticing that his dear friend isn't actually herself, while managing their own starstruck expectations. At one point, Tess even grabs a phone out of Bruce's hand and has a conversation with Julia Roberts over the phone.

The crew (plus Bruce Willis) nonetheless attempt to complete the job. As they briskly run through the museum dodging paparazzi and inquisitive questions, they are eventually caught red-handed as Tess signs an autograph with her wrong hand—because the real Julia Roberts is left-handed. All the set-up laid out for the joke and the heightened tension at this point in the film all contribute to making the entire sequence uproariously funny. Steven Soderbergh plays with the star-power of the film's cast, and it's ultimately one of the most memorable moments in the entire franchise.

'Ocean's Twelve' Has Some of the Funniest Moments in the Movie Series

Due to how starkly different Ocean's Twelve is from the rest of the series, it's often treated like the less-favored middle child of the installments. Rather than have just one central heist, there are myriad smaller jobs, most of which technically end in failure, but despite these differences from the rest of the series, Ocean's Twelve submits some of the funniest moments in the entire trilogy, in addition to the hilarious Julia Roberts con.

When Linus accompanies Danny and Rusty to a meeting with a criminal tech specialist, the more experienced thieves pull a Lost in Translation con on the over-eager novice, speaking in nonsensical riddles pretending it's a code. And on the evening of the first attempt at the fabergé egg job, the "Night Fox" fakes Danny's hotel wake-up call, tricking the con-man into drinking five shots of espresso at 11:30 PM the night before the actual gig. As he and Rusty lament at just how mean-spirited the rival thief's trick was, they share a glass of wine and watch television in an understated but hilarious moment of friendship, annoyance, and over-caffeination. From simple gags to complex references, Ocean's Twelve is a highlight reel of some of the most comedic con-man moments, making the underground criminal world feel like the biggest inside joke.

Ocean's Twelve is available to watch on Hulu in the U.S.

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