Ocean's Thirteen (2007), the third in a series, is already known as a fluffy popcorn movie, full of style and plot, signifying nothing. But this perception does not quite capture the movie.
Although light-hearted, Ocean's Thirteen is a moral enterprise. In the opening scene, hard-ball casino owner Willy Banks (Al Pacino) rips off his newest partner, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould), one of the Eleven, and Reuben nearly dies of a heart attack. Danny Ocean and his friends vow revenge--ruining the opening of the casino and forcing Banks to lose half a billion dollars. In the climactic scene, Danny Ocean says that Banks did not play fairly, that Banks had shaken Sinatra's hand and then not lived up to the code of honour. The power in the movie comes from our wanting Banks to get his come-uppence. The movie does have something to say about being decent and playing by the rules. Sure, it has been said before, but maybe it needs saying again.
The style is vastly over-rated. What do we mean by "style"? People often seem to mean that beautiful people get to appear in handsome outfits and be cool. But if that is the definition, style is not a big element of the movie. Matt Damon winds up with a prosthetic nose; Don Cheadle wears a dirty blue shirt and a head bandana; Elliot Gould sports ugly glasses and looks half dead most of the time; Ellen Barkin features ridiculously uplifted breasts. And the rest of the cast is usually on scene for such short shots that you never get to admire their lapels. The filming style is not glamorous either. Shots of the desert around Las Vegas are over-exposed; some interior shots seem hand-held; a lot of lighting seems natural rather than studio.
So it’s the plot? The plot is crucial, but in a peculiar way. First, there is no suspense in one sense because the ending is never in doubt: Danny Ocean and his gang will win. Nor is there a plot in the sense that you can figure out what will happen. Oddly, the movie creates quite a bit of suspense by posing directly the questions facing the Thirteen. For example, how will they ever be able to load the dice when the entire process from manufacturing to distribution is secure? So someone asks how they will ever be able to load the dice when the entire process is controlled? Then the movie tells you the answer: Go to the factory in Mexico posing as a worker, and dump minerals in the vat of plastic. (Did you guess that one?) How will the gang ever raise another $26 million to buy the underground excavator they need? Someone asks how they will ever get that much money to buy an underground excavator. Then the movie tells you the answer: Go to their old enemy Terry Benedict (nice last name; Andy Garcia; did you figure out that answer?). And so it goes: the movie poses the question directly, you try to think of an answer, and then the movie tells you. You are almost always wrong, but I did figure out how they got the magnetron into the top security computer room.
Although the movie requires no serious acting from anyone, Ellen Barkin puts in a wonderful performance as Bank's right-hand woman. She is initially perfectly icy and calculating. Her tight, low-cut dress and artificial boobs emphasize this. But then she comically comes under Matt Damon's spell when he is scented with seducing pheromones. When caught in the act, even though the subplot is ridiculous, she does the best acting of the movie.
If you see the movie for its style--famous people looking glamorous--you will be disappointed. If you see it for plot, you'll probably be cleverly engaged even though you have no chance of figuring out what is going to happen. If you see it for a villain, who usually gets away with everything, getting his punishment, you'll love it.