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After traveling the globe in Ocean’s Twelve, George Clooney’s Danny Ocean and the boys are back where they belong—in Vegas, baby.
After Reuben (Elliot Gould) is double-crossed by his prospective partner, Willy Bank (Al Pacino), on a major casino deal, the resulting heart attack leaves him in critical condition. Danny, Rusty (Brad Pitt), Linus (Matt Damon), and the rest of the guys gather in Vegas to try to figure out how to help their friend. Danny’s attempt at reasoning with Bank doesn’t work, so there’s only one option left: revenge. With the grand opening of the new casino—The Banks—right around the corner, Danny & Co. decide to get Bank back by doing what they do best: robbing him blind.
As I headed into the theater to see Ocean’s Thirteen, I couldn’t help but remember the disappointing Ocean’s Twelve (and that horrible Julia Roberts scene, which still makes me angry every time I think about it). But, fortunately, Ocean’s Thirteen is everything that its predecessor wasn’t. It’s a little bit Rat Pack and a little bit Bond—James Bond. It’s retro hip. It’s cool, daddy-o. And, on top of that, it’s action-packed and funny, too.
This time around, director Steven Soderbergh cuts out the fluff and sticks with what works. There isn’t a lot of back-story. No real romance. No real drama. Ocean’s Thirteen just dives right into the good stuff. It’s a movie about a heist—plain and simple.
Well…actually, it’s not so plain. And not exactly simple, either. As Danny and the boys execute their plan to take down every last game in Bank’s casino (while, at the same time, ruining his chances of winning the coveted Five Diamond award for excellence), their strategy might sometimes be old-fashioned (like switching the balls on the roulette wheels), but some of the details are pretty complex. The flashy, highly stylized, fast-paced action ensures that you won’t catch everything the first time around. Some of it goes by in a blur of split-screen montage. But it doesn’t detract from the fun. In fact, it’ll just make you want to see it again.
There’s one thing, however, that hasn’t changed since the last Ocean’s flick: the massive ensemble cast is every bit as spectacular as it was before. It’s clear that the cast members are still having a great time working together—and newcomers Ellen Barkin and Pacino fit right in. Clooney’s as smooth as ever, but the others have no problem keeping up—from Eddie Jemison as the bumbling Livingston Dell to Casey Affleck and Scott Caan as the Malloy brothers, who end up in the middle of a revolution in Mexico.
All the little details come together to make Ocean’s Thirteen the best of this summer’s Big Threes. It’s thrilling. It’s cool. It’s funny. And (most importantly) it’s just plain fun to watch.
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