by Chris Alexion, Copyright July 04, 2007, all rights reserved. 31 views
Ocean's Eleven was the kingpin of heist movies–nearly unmatched for plot, fun, and sheer coolness. The sequel, which boasted that "twelve is the new eleven," was really more like a group of actors trying to relive the fun. The coolness was there, to be sure, but the magic wasn't. It was a stretch and we knew it.
So think of Ocean's Thirteen as redemption. It's Soderbergh, Clooney, Pitt, and co. letting us know that they can still make a good con film. Thirteen doesn't top the roguish audacity and ingenuity of the first, but definitely comes close in originality and pure humor.
The hilarity of Thirteen is surprising, given its darker premise. Reuben Tishkoff, businessman and well-loved member of the original eleven, gets double-crossed by ruthless Willy Bank (Al Pacino) in a new casino project. The betrayal leaves Reuben heartbroken both emotionally and physically, and as he recovers from his heart attack, Danny and crew make plans to go after Bank. Their attack is twofold: make Bank lose big on opening night, and ensure that his hotel gets bad reviews. They face a lack of funds, a lack of manpower, and an automated security system that knows how to think. But when did odds ever bother Danny Ocean?
The acting returns to the level we've come to expect. Clooney and Pitt are calm and collected as Danny and Rusty. Pacino is superb in his bad guy role. Matt Damon, like his character Linus Caldwell, gets the "more central role" joked about in Ocean's Twelve and handles it well–fake nose and all. One nice thing about the Ocean films is that the supporting actors really do support, and Casey Affleck in particular does a nice job this time as Virgil, who gets sent to inflitrate a Mexican dice manufacturer and ends up starting a worker's revolution.
Soderbergh begins with some alarmingly choppy flashbacks, but eventually settles into a nice rhythm that allows the plot to take us on its twists and turns. The plot forces the boys to con as hard as ever and continually solve problems on the fly. Some of Soderbergh's twists are a stretch, but the ride is fun enough that they're easily forgiveable.
And speaking of fun, Thirteen, as I mentioned above, is at times hilarious. There's the running gag about Linus's fake nose, the Mexican workers' protest, and the hotel critic that Danny and Rusty are set on making miserable. Plus Yen upgrades from grease man to con man, debuting as a high-roller who owns "all the air south of Bejing." When Bank's lieutenant (Ellen Barkin) questions this claim, Linus challenges her to "try building something larger than three stories in the Tianjin province, and see if his name comes up in your database then."
Beneath the surface, the theme of loyalty helps carry the story. Ocean's original eleven stick close, and an offense to one of them is an offense to all. And while the movie seems like a revenge story, it's really more about justice than payback–Danny makes it clear early in the film that the point is not to get back at Bank but to do what's right for Reuben.
In the end, Ocean's Thirteen can be taken as a heist movie, a story of friendship, or just a fun ride. But however you take it, the odds that you'll enjoy it look pretty good.
1 • LHR • July 20, 2007 • 10:23 PM
A well written review of an intense and captivating sounding film! Loyalty = something that we all want, yet is given by so few, but what we should all try to have in large amounts in our lives.