Should we be looking for a Fourteen?

Rating: 8/10 (28 June 2007)

After seeing Ocean's Twelve not quite three years ago,I wasn't sure if the idea of making another Ocean's film would be such a good idea. But hearing and reading the reviews of this movie convinced me to invest in this sequel(amongst a summer of high profile sequels),and I'm pretty happy I did. As for my summary line,after seeing this offering,a sequel doesn't seem like such a bad idea anymore.
The story is probably tighter than the previous two movies: Casino owner and LAs Vegas old guard Reuben Tishkoff(Elliott Gould)has a massive heart attack when he is basically swindled by an over-aggressive casino entrepreneur named Willie Bank(Al Pacino,dialing it down to be as dry and quietly menacing as he is unscrupulous). News travels relatively quickly to Tishkoff's friends,aka the gang from the previous fixes: Danny Ocean(George Clooney,really smooth,even for himself),Rusty Ryan(Brad Pitt,not even needing deodorant for this film!),Linus Caldwell(Matt Damon,resting up for the third Bourne movie),Livingston Dell(Eddie Jemison),Frank Catton(Bernie Mac,in a role he seems born to play),BAsher Tarr(Don Cheadle,happy to take lighter stuff as always),Yen(Shaobo Qin,doing a little more than neat stunts this time),the Malloy brothers(Scott Caan and CAsey Affleck)and Saul Bloom(Carl Reiner,as sharp as ever at 85),and they all agree to enact revenge on Bank. It's ultimately agreed upon that the best revenge on Bank is to sink his brand new casino hotel,and the plot to do so is set into a looming,looping,exacting motion,as usual.
Featuring some fairly inspired secondary performances by Ellen Barkin(as BAnk's sexy,exacting assistant),Eddie Izzard(As a new investor to bankroll Ocean),Robert Einstein(aka "Super"DAve Osborne,as a Vegas gaming fed),David Paymer(as an unassuming-looking hotel reviewer who's about to have one of the lousiest hotel stays of his life)and Andy Garcia(back as one-time and possibly future nemesis,Casino boss Terry Benedict),this movie moves in brisk,sharp,clean strokes,complete with set-up,enactment and completion,all documented in an efficient,multi-screened stream of events. Director Steven Soderberg doesn't seem to care that elements of the film seem either vague or rough,preferring to allow the film-goer either take it or leave it as a finished product. Some may not care for it,I didn't mind it at all. Where "Eleven" was stylish and almost ruthless in its style,and "Twelve" had a promising set-up and effortlessly likable first half undermined by an utterly confusing last half,this movie returns to the original formula for the most part,and to me,the best parts of this film may also be what makes it less than perfect:that is,it's easy flow,quickness and lack of interest in the core details of the job. Still,I can let it go if a movie about a massive con isn't interested in plying the whole craft before the viewer as long as said movie still keeps it entertaining and quick,and I'm happy to say "Thirteen" does just that.