Ocean’s Thirteen succeeds if only for the simple reason that it washes the rancid taste of Ocean’s Twelve from our mouths.
The jist of O13 is that Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) suffers a near-fatal heart attack after being double-crossed by hotel mogul Willie Bank (Al Pacino). Danny tried to warn him that Bank was a rat and would betray him, but Reuben, desperate to become relavent in today’s Vegas, partnered up with Bank. Bank’s betrayal triggers a near-fatal heart attack and Reuben is left for dead.
Danny and Rusty get word and round up the gang to right this wrong by destroying Bank.
How?
By making sure the grand opening is an utter disaster both financially and personally. Their intent is to rig ALL the games, as well as insure that not only does The Bank not get the “Five Diamond” award, but gets a truly awful review.
This time around, everyone remembered to bring both their talent AND their charm. While not as good as Ocean’s Eleven, O13 is fun and the time flies by while absurdly impossible tricks are done. You have no trouble suspending your disbelief because you are having a load of fun.
Among the more entertaining side plots is Scott Caan and Casey Afflecks involvement in a labor strike at a dice-making factory in Mexico. Pretty much everyone is given their chance to shine, though Matt Damon’s character annoyed me more than a little. His character is supposed to be the younger, goofy one. Honestly, much of his performance screams dork and simply did not jive, for me, with the rest of the film.
The extras are pretty damn chintzy. We get an interesting look at the history of Vegas as well as a handful of deleted scenes. None of this is bad, but it would have been nice to get a little more meat instead of these meager scraps.
Don’t head into it expecting great cinema, just look for a breezy flick and you should have a god time.
Buy Ocean’s Thirteen from Amazon.
Jeremy Lynch
For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.
