Ocean's Thirteen

FLICK Have you ever wanted to break the house in Las Vegas? That’s literally what’s going on in Ocean’s Thirteen. All of the familiar faces are back attempting to simulate an earthquake, trying to pull one over on casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) for pulling one over on Reuben (Elliott Gould). Think the 13 guys are lucky enough to do it? Well, that’s not the real reason to see O13. There’s very little suspense and you know George Clooney and crew are going to get what they want in the end. So the reason for going to see this stellar ensemble must be to watch the mugs of Clooney and Brad Pitt – it certainly isn’t for the acting. In fact, the only ones really working hard for the money seem to be Ellen Barkin, as Willy’s assistant Abigail who has to shift gears a few times and looks great while doing it, and a jocular Carl Reiner. Pacino is also having fun but this really isn’t new territory for him. Don Cheadle works his British accent again, Matt Damon tries out a “Midi”-Me look in the final act, and Bernie Mac could crack me up reading a McMenu.
O13 is at least more likeable than the lackluster O12, and director Steven Soderbergh doesn’t really bother letting us know the details of the setup or wasting time with dialogue – and it doesn’t matter. We know the boys are going to wreak havoc on the opening night of the casino and get a shit-load of diamonds, and we go along for the fun never knowing exactly how it’s going to happen until it happens. Soderbergh nonetheless keeps the action moving, gives us enough stylishly different camera angles to accommodate anyone with ADD and has a playful time doing it.
If you’ve ever watched an episode of the BBC show “Hustle”, which airs on American Movie Classics, you’ll know that the five featured scam-artists, lead by Adrian Lester and Robert Vaughn, pay off with higher interest and in weekly installments. (2007) My Score: 6.5 out of 10.