ENTERTAINMENT / Review
`Ocean's' sequel plays same hand
(AP)
Updated: 2007-06-06 13:24
The third roll of the dice for George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and
their merry band of casino crooks is an almost certain winner for its
makers, a break-even deal at best for audiences.
Glittery as a Vegas Strip stage revue, smooth and smarmy as a high-roller
on the lucky streak of his life, "Ocean's Thirteen" wins back some of the
"Ocean's Eleven" charm the franchise lost amid the sputtering sequel
"Ocean's Twelve."
Yet "Ocean's Thirteen" still feels like one trip too many to the craps
table, playing the same hunches, with the outcome unimaginatively clear
from the start: Categorical victory for the rascally good guys planning a
Robin Hood-style heist, utter defeat and humiliation for the villain ( Al
Pacino).
Oh, and also obvious from the get-go: a big summer hit for distributor
Warner Bros., which pretty much had a sure bet just by rounding up its
superstar cast (minus Julia Roberts) and director Steven Soderbergh one
more time.
With jazzy, funky music reminiscent of movie scores of the 1960s, the era
that spawned Frank Sinatra's original "Ocean's Eleven," the new movie
dashes through a prologue meant to establish a fresh bond with our
mercenary gang and the honor-among-thieves motive for their latest caper.
Vegas mogul Reuben Tishkoff ( Elliott Gould), the money man of the
Ocean's Eleven crew, is bilked out of his half-interest in a swanky new
casino and hotel being opened by cutthroat Willy Bank (Pacino), who
egotistically names his joint The Bank.
Stressed into a heart attack, Reuben lies listless, waiting to die,
prompting Danny Ocean (Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Pitt) to call out the
troops for a revenge job that will break The Bank and its owner on
opening night.
The absence of Roberts, who costarred in the first two flicks, is
dismissed with an offhand remark by Danny, while "Ocean's Twelve" co-star
Catherine Zeta-Jones also is a no-show.
Everyone else is back: Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Casey
Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison and Shaobo Qin. Also returning is Andy
Garcia as the gang's old adversary Terry Benedict, who forges an uneasy
alliance with Danny and the boys to help nail casino rival Bank.
Ellen Barkin joins the cast as Bank's top aide, Abigail Spooner, a
character played for comic effect, a woman who seems too giddy and
insecure to serve as lieutenant to a ruthless titan.
Eddie Izzard comes on board as a new Ocean's ally, an engineering genius
whose little duel with an old school mate (Julian Sands as designer of
The Bank's invulnerable security system) is one of several subplots that
muddy the works without raising the dramatic stakes of "Ocean's Thirteen."
Another of those meandering subplots is Affleck and Caan's labor battle
on behalf of workers at a Mexican plastics factory that makes casino
dice. Another is Cheadle's brief impersonation of an Evel Knievel-type
motorcycle stunt driver. Another is David Paymer's presence as a hotel
reviewer hurled into the assignment from hell by Danny's machinations.
"Ocean's Thirteen" tries to give all of its players, old and new,
something meaningful to do. But like "Shrek the Third" with its
ever-expanding cast, too many cutthroats in the casino wind up watering
down whatever's stewing in the pot.
The movie is at its best when it lets superstars Clooney and Pitt do
their thing, mugging and wisecracking with style and the uber-confidence
that comes with knowing you're Hollywood kingpins in a game where you and
yours always have the better hand.
Damon gets a bit of a promotion with a side-story involving his
character's con-man father and another in which he dons a fake nose and
artificial pheromones to romance Barkin.
Pacino thankfully tones down his booming, bellowing bad-guy act, with
Bank coming off as a clear megalomaniac, but at least a tolerable one.
Soderbergh remains a director alternating between noble creative forays
and crass commercial successes. After the failure of last fall's
film-noir throwback "The Good German," also starring his frequent
collaborator Clooney, Soderbergh has a near-certain smash in "Ocean's
Thirteen" that will help carry him through whatever strange,
idiosyncratic experiments are next on his to-do list.
As much as Clooney and Pitt, the fictional casino itself is a key star,
with sparkling interiors created on a Hollywood sound stage and dazzling
computer-crafted images of the high-rise joint slicing into the Vegas
skyline. A series of three wafer-thin, twisting towers dozens of stories
high, The Bank seems an architectural impossibility, but it sure looks
cool.
Clooney's Danny, Pitt's Rusty and some of their cohorts bemoan how Vegas
has changed, pioneer casinos such as the Dunes and the Desert Inn
supplanted by bigger, flashier entertainment and gambling behemoths.
The same holds for "Ocean's Thirteen." Bigger and flashier than "Ocean's
Eleven," yes. Worth betting on for movie-goers? Even-odds, maybe.
At least all you'll lose is the price of a ticket and a couple of hours
time, though.
Top Entertaiment News
� Tom Sizemore handcuffed at LA court
� Jolie: `We have family sleep on Sundays'
� Spears is subject of unflattering photos
� Larry David and activist wife split up
� Sons ask channel not to use Diana photos
Today's Top News
� SEPA: Pollution picture to brighten this year
� US Missile defense 'harms stability'
� Central bank mulls monetary policy
� Heavy security surrounds G8 talks
� Bush: Russians have derailed reforms
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
Learn Chinese, Learn Mandarin online, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing,
Posts
