Ocean's Thirteen

George Clooney and company are back and in the place they belong: the casinos of Las Vegas. After a disappointing and vapid Euro trip in OCEAN’S TWELVE, director Steven Soderbergh has wisely returned to the formula that made the original film so successful. The result is an entertaining film that makes apologies for its predecessor, while never reaching the heights of cleverness and pure enjoyment of the first film.

This time around, the motive is revenge. After ruthless casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) betrays the lovably sarcastic Reuben (Elliot Gould), sending him into a near-death stupor, Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his camaraderie of thieves decide to get back at him in the best way they know how: an epic heist at his newest casino, the Bank. To tell any more would likely uncover one of the film’s many surprises, which is to be expected in an OCEAN’S film. The plot is tighter and slimmed down than the other two installments; this time around, the external emotional problems of the characters are largely ignored, aside from a few mentions here and there. Previous stars Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones are nowhere to be seen. This works both for and against the film; it is stripped of the excess and inside jokes that made the second film so tiring, yet the audience is prevented from seeing the charismatic characters working on multiple levels.

It is even more of a shame because the one minor subplot that does introduce romantic tension is one of the high points in the film. This is due mostly to the presence of Ellen Barkin, playing Al Pacino’s seemingly all-business-no-pleasure assistant. Her dynamic and energetic performance as “the woman” in the film gives an adrenaline shot, particularly in her scenes with Matt Damon and his fake nose (suspiciously called “the Brody.”) However, her time to shine is all too brief, relegated to just a few scenes.

Yet the sense of fun from the first film has returned, and it makes up for many of the missing elements. Once again the audiences are in on the joke, which was the biggest problem with the second film. The film suffers from a slow first act, with things plodding along until the heist is actually set in motion. But the joy is there in seeing the characters back to plotting a seemingly impossible heist and dealing with the curveballs thrown at them. The actual heist isn't as clever as the first film, yet the filmmakers seem to realize that, which contributes even more to the film's laid-back nature. As always, Soderbergh imbues the film with a visual spark that hearkens back to the sixties while remaining cutting-edge and modern (the CGI-altered Las Vegas strip is particularly impressive).

While the film could never have topped the first installment, it apologizes for the grave mistakes made in the second film. What at first seemed a vanity project for a bunch of men in denial is now a decent enough summer escape. Clooney, Pitt, Damon, etc. are still joking around and having fun, but this time we’re having fun with them. We are welcomed back into Ocean's gang to ride along.

**1/2