Suave but a Bit Flat

Rating: 7/10 (2 July 2007)

I liked "Oceans 13," but I wanted to love it.
I love the handsome stars, the great clothes, the nifty sets, the music -- David Holmes' score is a really fun, retro trip back to 1965. I love the deadpan delivery of funny lines: "I just bit into a pepper," a man says, when caught tearing up. I love the payoff when scams reach their climax.
But I wanted this movie to thrill me as the previous "Ocean" movies have, and, while it was a slick good time, it wasn't memorable.
There is less character development here than in previous movies. Ocean is not pursuing Tess. Linus has pretty much proved himself.
There wasn't the spectacular stunts as performed by Shaobo Qin in "Ocean's 11" or Vincent Cassel in "Ocean's 12." "Ocean's 13" doesn't fully exploit Las Vegas -- we've seen this movie's Las Vegas before.
Al Pacino is kind of blah as the villain. I wasn't afraid of him; I just kept wondering why he had orange hair. Andy Garcia is more juicy in a smaller, ambivalent role.
The movie resuscitates the film career of Ellen Barkin. She looks spectacular: flat stomach, legs to die for, magnificent cleavage. And then what do they do? Humiliate her and make a bitter comment about how she is a woman "of a certain age." "Oceans 13" would have been a better movie if it had made better use of this hot actress. A sex scene between her and the ever cool Matt Damon would have perked the movie up.