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Ocean’s Thirteen

Review By: Rick Mele
RickMele@TheCinemaSource.com

The summer of 2007 has, by and large, played out mainly the way the summer movie season always has. Tentpole franchises like Spider-Man, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Shrek toted out their third installments to overwhelming box office success... and mixed critical and public reaction. With those already quickly fading from public consciousness (along with movie screens), studios have committed millions of dollars in marketing to ensure films like Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Transformers, and Ocean’s Thirteen open just as big, regardless of whether or not they’re able to maintain that success over time (or perhaps, in spite of this). For contrarians, this exposure glut can have the opposite effect than intended, and only strengthen their resolve to miss out on Hollywood’s next big ticket.

So what am I trying to get at with all this? Namely that, regardless of in which direction, most moviegoers’ minds have already been made up on the latest blockbuster long before they venture out to their local multiplex. And, if the marketing gurus at Warner Bros. have been successful, chances are you’re planning to check out director Steven Soderbergh’s newest star-studded heist flick, Ocean’s Thirteen, when it hits theaters this Friday. ...But should you? Given this summer’s track record, I’d be inclined to say no, but, in a somewhat surprising turn of events, it seems that Clooney et al weren’t satisfied with merely lining their already-full pockets and phoning it in; they’ve gone the extra mile to put out a popcorn movie that should please audiences almost as much as studio execs.

Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his gang have gone their separate ways since their last heist, as chronicled in Ocean’s Twelve. But, when one of their own, Reuben Tishkoff (played by Elliot Gould, M*A*S*H), is double-crossed and hospitalized by ruthless casino owner Willy Bank (a spry Al Pacino), the band reunites for a little old-fashioned revenge. When Bank turns down their offer of a “Billy Martin” (i.e. a second chance), an ambitious and dangerous scheme is set into motion to attack Bank where it’ll hurt most: at the grand opening of his prized new casino. Their plan? To hurt him financially, by “flipping” the casino, rigging it so the house never wins, and to take his ego down a peg, by ensuring Bank loses the coveted honor of the Royal Review Board’s Five Diamond Award – he’s the only hotelier to earn the award on every one of his hotels. But a plan of this magnitude is no easy play, and it’ll take all of their cunning and skills – and maybe even a bit more – to come out on top.

The key to Ocean’s Thirteen’s success relies in fantasy fulfillment, as was the case in the previous installments, along with the Rat Pack original that inspired the ...