Movie Review: Ocean's Thirteen

Better than 12, not as good as 11. Like cotton candy.

Elliott Gould's Reuben Tishkoff was cheated out of his share of a casino by Al Pacino's Willie Bank. He slips into some unnamed medical condition and Ocean and his gang want revenge on (the) Bank. Their goal is to cause him to lose enough money his board gives up on him; and while they're at it, prevent the Bank from getting a 5 diamond rating. Bank feels safe because he built this new high-end casino with impregnable security measures, insanely secure safes and a computer system that analyses everyone in the casino to see if they expect it when they win and therefore are cheating. When Ocean's gang needs more funds, they turn to the villian from the first two films, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) who makes them also steal some diamonds.

The caper is fine though many many details are left out. The most egregious is using one of the machines that dug the chunnel on the support pilers of the building to make it seem like there's an earthquake. When they need a replacement at the last minute they only thing the film bothers to show us is getting the funds from Benedict, not how such a mammoth machine is transported to Vegas or surreptitiously put under the building. But honestly just hearing Don Cheadle technobabble in a British accent and watching George Clooney ask Garcia for the funds was enough to be fun. I could follow enough of the multipart elaborate plot though I expected more twists at the end.

In Ocean's 11 the minor quirks substituted for characterization. Matt Damon lacked self-confidence, two brothers argued, etc. Now that's just who they are. So with a zero risk of death or failure, there wasn't much of an emotional investment. Lots of cool, a few laughs, and some cleverness sufficed.

Steven Soderbergh's direction had some fun elements and only one bit that I found too clever and annoying. In a scene where Clooney and Pitt are setting up a hotel room, you see all their actions in close ups of their hands in double and triple exposures. So you really can't see what they're doing but you get the idea they're rigging the room.

Fun and I enjoyed myself but no reason to rush to see it.