Ocean's Eleven Character Hierarchy

Ocean’s Eleven Summary

This may be the most difficult movie we see this semester. It may also be the most exciting movie we see this semester. Perhaps the most difficult part is that there are so many characters in the movie. There is also a lot about American culture in this movie that may make it difficult for students of another culture to understand.
It may be helpful to adapt this movie to Korean culture, particularly as far as the roles of the characters are concerned. Here is a brief hierarchy of the characters.
1. Daniel Ocean is the leader. If this were a company, we might compare him to a CEO or director of an office.
2. Rusty is second in command. In the context of a company, we could call him the team leader who works under Daniel Ocean. However, Rusty sometimes takes initiative, like when he tells Daniel Ocean that he’s off of the job after a picture of him is published in the newspaper.
3. Ruben, the Malloy Brothers, Livingstone, Bashion, Yen, Saul and Linus all work under Daniel and Rusty. However, Ruben has enough experience that he uses his age and experience to boss some of the younger characters around when necessary. Even though these guys are “under” Rusty and Daniel their role is no less significant.
4. Terry Benedict has a different kind of role, since he is the owner of the casinos that the team plans on robbing, even though we only see one robbery in this film.
5. Tess’ role in the casino is that of a curator though it is somewhat mysterious in light of the fact that Daniel is trying to win her back while she is in a relationship with Terry Benedict.