“Ocean’s Thirteen” (Warner Brothers)
At Least They Had Fun Making It
“Ocean’s 11” was a movie with some breezy charm. “Ocean’s 12” was a movie that had lost the charm. Now comes “Ocean’s 13” and it is time to put this franchise to rest. Whatever was right with the first is missing here and whatever was wrong with the second is back in spades. Clooney and company seem to be having a ball making the movie but the audience is once again left out in the cold.
Clooney is back as cool and confident Danny Ocean. When the movie starts he is getting the old gang back together to get revenge for Reuben (Elliott Gould). Reuben entered into a deal with Willie Bank (Al Pacino) to create a new casino, but Willie broke the deal and took it all for himself. Reuben suffered a dehabilitating bout of depression as a result. Ocean and his friends avow to make Willie pay.
Getting all the pieces of the puzzle set up so that “Ocean’s 11” can exact their revenge takes up most of the movie and surprisingly it is bland and boring stuff. Nothing seems new, nothing seems clever, and nothing is entertaining. There is not a lot of humor in the movie except for the inside jokes Clooney and Brad Pitt share, and the only person seeming to try and create a real character is Matt Damon. He actually tries to be someone other than Matt Damon.
Ellen Barkin is the token female in this movie and believe me she is no Julia Roberts, or Catherine Zeta-Jones for that matter. Having one or both of those women in the film would have made a big difference. They gave whatever charm there was to “Ocean’s 12.”
As the movie progresses Pitt seems to disappear from the movie. Clooney stays in view but his contribution is looking good in a tuxedo. The rest of the group say their few lines and move on. This includes Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Bernie Mac and Andy Garcia.
A caper movie has to be light and fun – and intricate. This movie is heavy and plodding – and easy to figure. It is good to have the action back in Vegas but the movie does nothing to utilize the town. It might as well have been filmed on a soundstage completely.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
The team of Clooney and Soderberg has lost its magic. Clooney smirks and smiles his way through the film while Soderberg’s direction is tired and lifeless. These two should part ways and make movies with other people.
“Ocean’s 13” is another bad threequel in a summer of disappointing threequels. So far only “Pirates” has been able to break the curse of the deadly three. Here’s hoping Clooney and company have learned that big names do not a big movie make.
I scored “Ocean’s 13” a bad luck 4 out of 10.
