Ocean’s 13 [2007]
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Actor: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, Eddie Jemison, Don Cheadle, Shaobo Qin, Andy Garcia, Ellen Barkin, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Bernie Mac, Eddie Izzard, Carl Reiner
When I watched the remake of Ocean’s 11 a couple of years ago, I was really taken by the story, the style and the actors in the film. A lot of high rollers with big names that came together and created a light, easily digestable film, with a relatively solid story, and good acting. The characters were well thought out, the language was well-developed, and the setting was detailed and rich. And it was a success, as expected.
Then they came out with the second film, Ocean’s 12, which I thought was just a big joke amongst the actors. They were raving about how much fun they’d had during the making of the first film, and that they wanted to have that fun again, and that they succeeded. Yeah, I believe that, because you can see by their performance that they’re not taking it very seriously. They weren’t there to make a kick-ass film, they were there to just have some fun among friends. The end-result was pretty horrible, which is why I was surprised and a little weary of the third film they were going to make, Ocean’s 13.
Now, the first thing that indicated to me that I might want to go and see the film was the fact that both Zeta-Jones and Roberts were no longer in it. Big bonus, because the relationship angle got really tiring in the second film. Also, the cast included Al Pacino, which to me (still) means that I should pay extra attention. I was hoping that Pacino could bring some clout and some seriousness to the table. I also hoped that this film would break the seemingly endless stream of sub-par films he’d been doing in the last few years.
The story is as followed; Reuben (Gould) and Banks (Pacino) are going into business together, opening up a new hotel/casino on the strip. Banks screws Reuben over and takes over the entire joint for a pittance. Reuben is shocked to the point where he suffers a heart-attack. Queue Danny Ocean and his boys to go up against Banks, trying to wreck his entire operation by causing as much mayhem as possible on opening night, and thereby forcing Banks to relinquish Reuben’s share of the casino…or something.
I say “…or something” because the story is a little messy, leaving massive plot-holes and loose ends that never get tied up. It looks like there was a lot of story that was left on the cuttingroom floor, leaving gaps here and there. Sometimes it doesn’t make that much sense, and discussing it with your friends, like I did with Dennis during lunch today, certainly doesn’t make things any clearer.
Glaring inconsistencies are a little annoying, but are more than made up by solid acting, good style, decent cinematography and a hefty dose of humour – and not the silly campy kind that Ocean’s 12 had. To see Pitt and Clooney get emotional and cry while watching an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show had me in stitches. :)
I liked it!