"Ocean's 13" Review

by Jeff McGinnis, Lead Usher

*** stars (out of four)
122 minutes, Now Showing

The old saying goes, the best way to critique a movie is to make another movie. Perhaps as a corollary to that law, it could be said that the best way for a critic to criticize a film is to point to another one which does it better. As if by magic, just two weeks after "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" confounded me so, here comes "Ocean's 13," which is just as complicated but much more fun. It's not the complexity that is the problem, you see. But complexity without entertainment value is worthless.

I am not sure all the pieces fit in the grand scheme that Danny Ocean and his associates cook up in the third (and, if you believe George Clooney, final) installment of the "Ocean's" series, but we certainly enjoy watching them try to make them fit. This has been a franchise built and operated on the central conceit of magicians everywhere: it's not what you do, but what you let the audience see, and when you let them see it. There are surprises, secrets, twists, turns, complications and more, capped by a cast who is clearly having so much fun that we wish we had been on the set ourselves.

That feeling has infected the whole series up to this point, and this chapter is no exception. Like the Rat Pack film which inspired it, the first film, "Ocean's 11," was a sly and fun time at the movies, propelled by the sheer joy its performers exuded with every moment on screen. The second, "Ocean's 12," still had that feeling from the cast, but sadly it did not really transfer that feeling to its audience. (I enjoyed the sequel, but I appear to be the exception to the rule.)

This film seems to make a conscious effort to return the franchise to its old roots, returning the setting to Las Vegas, and once again making the villain a flat-out scoundrel for the gang to ruin. You know he's a flat-out scoundrel, because he's played by Al Pacino. No one in movie history will ever play a flat-out scoundrel with as much zest and passion as Al Pacino. Even when he's clearly not trying his hardest (like, say, here), his very bearing brings the character more interest than most actors could engender even with months of preparation under their belt.

The plot: Pacino plays Willie Bank, a developer who plans on building a new multi-million dollar casino on the strip (housed in an exceedingly implausibly designed building which looks like it's curling back onto itself). He gets the land from longtime Ocean associate Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), and then in what has to be the most blatant corporate takeover ever, basically tells Reuben he's out and makes him sign over his share. Reuben, naturally, has a heart attack and ends up catatonic in the hospital.

Cut to the remaining 11, who assemble at Reuben's bedside and plot revenge against the evil Bank, setting in motion an elaborate plan to bankrupt Bank by ruining his casino when it opens. Well, okay, calling the plan "elaborate" is understating it quite a bit. When your grand plan includes importing the drill they used to dig the Chunnel, we have gone past the "elaborate" stage, methinks. Especially when that drill breaks down and they have to get the OTHER drill they also used to dig the Chunnel.

It would not be fair to spoil any more of the ways the plan goes down, especially since the film's structure is to let the audience know what is going to happen, leave out a few select details, then watch the fun as the select details are sprung on the audience at just the right moment to ensure maximum giggles of glee. There are quite a few giggles of glee in the film, not just from the moments involving the heist, but also from the sly little moments that Clooney and Pitt share together (as when Pitt catches Clooney watching Oprah).

The new wrinkle involved in the scheme comes when longtime Ocean nemesis Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) gets involved in the plan (they need to borrow money to buy the other drill). Benedict's motives for helping the crew this time around are a little weak (they amount to Bank's building casting an unfavorable shadow on one of his pools), but it adds a fun new dimension to the con, and we are just waiting for the moment when Ocean tries to screw Benedict, or vice versa, or both, who knows?

The only things missing this time around are Ocean's wife Tess (Julia Roberts) and Rusty's wife/girlfriend/who knows by now Isabel (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who are both dismissed with an offhand "it's not their fight" comment early in the running time. This makes the film even more of a boy's club outing than it has been in the past - the only female character who gets any appreciable screen time is Bank's second-in-command Abigail Sponder, played by Ellen Barkin, who essentially exists in the film to be flirted with by Matt Damon's Linus. Well, Ocean got the girl in the first film, Rusty the second, it only stands to reason that Linus would be the one this time around, even if at the time he's in disguise and wearing a nose that Gonzo the Great would find implausible.

In the end, watching "Ocean's 13" is like eating a Snickers bar - ultimately meaningless, but while it's happening, it tastes great. It's just an entertaining popcorn flick with actors who are clearly having a great time, particularly the great Don Cheadle as demolitions expert Basher, who gets a fun moment impersonating a daredevil that is all the more fun for being so wildly unconvincing. Director Steven Soderbergh makes films that feel like jazz, in a world where most everyone else is playing bubblegum pop. Here he puts together a catchy tune that will evaporate from the memory pretty quickly, but you're glad you were there to hear it.