Linus Caldwell

Linus Caldwell is a fictional character portrayed by Matt Damon in the heist film ' and its sequels Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. While Ocean's Eleven is based on the , Caldwell does not appear in the original but does have some parallels to the original film's character Sam Harmon, portrayed by Dean Martin.
Character history
Ocean's Eleven
Caldwell is a young pickpocket and thief and is the son of legendary con artist Bobby Caldwell. Caldwell is the last to be recruited to the Eleven for the Benedict job. He is first seen pickpocketing when Daniel Ocean finds him and offers him a role in the job, claiming his dad recommended him, but Caldwell is unsure, citing family problems. He is an expert at sleight-of-hand and all manner of physical property theft, but is inexperienced at grand theft, and interacting with his marks. He is adept at shadowing and analyzing.
His criminal record reads as follows: juvenile arrest for misdemeanor drug possession and drunk and disorderly conduct and arrested on 2 separate counts of petty theft; no convictions to date.
Though uncertain at first, he joins the Eleven when told by Reuben Tishkoff to "get in the goddamned house." He is given the task of performing reconnaissance on Benedict's hotel, a task he is annoyed in doing, as he hoped to have a larger role in the scheme. He is the first to discover that Tess Ocean, Daniel Ocean's ex-wife, is with Benedict. When he reports this to Rusty Ryan, he is unfamiliar with the link between Tess and Danny. Furious at Ocean, Ryan covertly charges Caldwell with shadowing Ocean to make sure he isn't jeopardizing the heist. The group steal a "pinch" that will turn off the power when needed, and when Linus almost botches it by not following his intructions, Danny angrily berates him which causes animosity between them.
As Ocean attempts to win Tess back, he is blacklisted from the hotel, making his role in the job impossible to perform. Linus, still sore at Danny, reports to Rusty that he was blacklisted because he wouldn't leave Tess alone. As a result, Ryan cuts Ocean out of the heist and Caldwell takes his place. He enters the heist under the disguise of a gaming commission officer sent in to report on Frank Catton (who is part of the job).
He arrives and informs Benedict of Frank's criminal past. Caldwell and Frank stage an argument, and Caldwell uses the distraction to steal the codes by lifting them from Benedict's pocket. He then fakes having left his pager in order to stay behind and use the opportunity to enter the elevator. There, he finds Ocean has infiltrated the elevator using his contacts. Ocean reveals that Danny being blacklisted(and his subsequent sacking by Rusty) was part of the scheme, and also was an act to test Caldwell's ability and to show that when the time is right Ocean and Ryan will select him for the jobs he is suited for.
At the same time, another member of the Eleven, Basher, shuts down the power for a few minutes. In that time, they abseil down the elevator shaft with the laser grid down and continue on to knock out the guard. They blow up the door to the vault, where another member, Yen, had been smuggled in and planted bombs and using a series of distractions, and smuggle the money out under the disguise of the SWAT team.
Ocean's Twelve
Some time after Ocean's Eleven, the team is betrayed by Francois "The Night Fox" Toulour. He gives away their locations to Benedict and he tracks them down. Caldwell is found and asks that his parents not be informed, showing his independence. When meeting with the rest, Caldwell says he has spent $1 million on talent expansion. With interest, he owes a total of $7 million.
He follows the team to Europe to pull off a job to pay their debt. He asks Ryan for a bigger role in the job. Although Ocean and Ryan allow Caldwell to attend a meeting with them, they pretend to talk in a fake language to get rid of him. He plays a small role in the series of events that follow in discovering Toulour is behind the job.
However, after the team is arrested preparing to rob the Coronation Egg as part of a contest with Toulour to see who is the best thief, he is one of the few to escape. Caldwell, Basher, and Turk bring in Tess to act as a distraction to affect a swap of the egg with a fake prepared by Roman Nagel.
After being captured with the rest, he is interrogated and apparently gives in. As they are driven away by the authorities, it becomes apparent the interrogator is actually Caldwell's mother, called in by Ocean to help in a prepared swap of the Coronation Egg, and their capture was staged to make the attempt appear genuine. Toulour is forced to pay their debt because of his defeat.
Caldwell joins the Eleven in the celebrations afterward.
Ocean's Thirteen
Some time after the events of Ocean's Twelve, Tishkoff is ripped off in a business deal with Willie Bank. As a result, he has a heart attack and is left near death. Caldwell meets Ocean and Ryan as they arrive at the airport. As the group discusses what to do, Caldwell proposes negotiating with Bank. When this fails, Caldwell is sent to find out what security Bank will use at his new hotel/casino. With difficulty and losing a lot of assets, he manages to discover it is the AI computer called the Greco. The team intends to shut it down long enough to rig all the games and win big. After that, they would get everyone out and Bank would be ruined.
At the time the drill they intended to use to create a fake earthquake to get evacuate the hotel with the ill-gotten money breaks down, Caldwell is the one to suggest using Benedict to fund them to buy the second available drill. He accompanies Ocean and Ryan to the meeting and Benedict agrees, providing they also steal Bank's collection of diamond necklaces.
After this step, he accompanies Yen into infiltrating the Casino as rich businessman "Mr. Weng" with Caldwell playing his assistant. As part of a gag, he wears a large fake nose for the part, which his father learns of and dislikes as being "a prop for prop's sake". Once in and with little way to enter the room in which the diamonds are stored, Caldwell comes up with the idea of seducing Abigail Sponder, Bank's right hand at the casino. He insists on taking the role rather than Ryan, and is against using an "accelerant", though it is ultimately used.
After seducing her, he and Sponder enter the penthouse (where the diamonds are), where he is arrested by the FBI. Upon leaving, it becomes apparent once again that his parents have arrived to help, this time the one being his dad, the famous Bobby Caldwell. The two, fully aware Benedict is about to rip them off using Toulour, announce to the rest of the team (on the frequency Benedict is listening) they have swapped the diamonds. On the roof and held at gunpoint, Caldwell hands over the fake diamonds to Toulour, who base jumps and parachutes away. The two than get in a helicopter that pulls away a chunk of the building as it flies away, with the diamonds still housed in its impregnable case.
After the success of the job, Caldwell is seen with Ocean and Ryan at the airport, about to leave. He has a spot in his dad's next job and appears to be both more confident and to have dealt with his family problems.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu