Thirteen Coming Close To Pushing It's Luck
Watching the Ocean’s movies has always been like leaning back in a comfortable chair. I don’t expect to get much from it if only to know that for the next couple of hours, I’m going to smile. Ocean’s 13 is still the same way. In no way is it possible to pull off this heist, but the movie just doesn’t care. Steven Soderbergh has earned the right to bend reality since in his more important features require more reality than most other filmmakers. He understands that with the right human drama, the little details don’t matter in a movie like this.
Ocean’s 13 starts off with the boys getting back together (the girls are left out this time because “it’s not their fight”) when Reuben (Elliot Gould) is put into the hospital after being crushed financially and emotionally by Vegas super-mogul Willie Bank (Al Pacino). Danny and Rusty (George Clooney and Brad Pitt) once again lead their ragtag team into doing the impossible: rigging Bank’s casino floor to lose everything on opening night. This requires tampering with slots, roulette, blackjack, but also with the casino’s state of the art monitoring system as well that makes Hal9000 look like a playschool toy.
But there comes a few wrinkles. First comes the need to perform a minor act of God as the means of pulling off the job. And then there’s the means of financing this small miracle when their funds get low. Now they bring in bitter rival Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) who seems interested in getting rid of Bank’s monstrosity for mutual reasons…with one tiny stipend: he wants Bank’s diamonds. This will require the eager Linus (Matt Damon) to seduce Bank’s right-hand woman (Ellen Barkin).
The entire movie is the set-up for the games that occur on Opening Night. This is the pay-off where we think we know how things are going to go and are surprised when they go in other directions. Although not as labyrinthine as the last one, it can be tiresome. What pulled me the rest of the way is the fun that I had just being with the boys and knowing everybody is having a good time. The movie isn’t very engaging, but it seduces you into a trace that you’re willing to go under. And when it’s over, you are fulfilled.
As mentioned earlier, all the boys are back: Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Garcia, Gould, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Eddie Jemison, and Shaobo Qin. They automatically have rapport with each other that makes the movie work. Pacino is throwing diamonds as the malicious Willie Bank. He’s not as physically menacing as Garcia’s Terry, but you can tell he knows how to get things done his way if given half a chance. And Ellen Barkin is absolutely sultry. Considering that she’s considered ancient by Hollywood standards, she shows that older women can play sexy better than some of the girls half her age.
Soderbergh, possibly taking some rest before doing his 'Che' Guevara film, is in full control of his camera. But you can tell he’s not in full gear. He’s just making a movie that will get him a few extra dollars in the bank. But why does he have to have so many establishing shots of the casino skyline? There were times when I felt I was watching an episode of CSI.
All in all, this is just a good amusement that isn’t meant for much more. That isn’t a bad thing considering all these minor movies trying so hard to make points that aren’t really there. And considering that the likes of George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, and Don Cheadle are also in the midst of making films that really have things to say, it’s just nice to see them relax and enjoy themselves from time to time, to put a little money into the bank before breaking it all over again.