simply a fun escapist heist movie

Rating: 7/10 (13 June 2007)

Ocean's Thirteen unfolds not in an excellent great-movie way but how subversive heist movies should- being entertaining while also showing some chutzpah on the part of the filmmaker. Although not reaching the level of tense joy of the original, it does go past the tedious self-consciousness of the second film to be, well, still self-conscious, but in that way that puts Soderbergh to task as someone who can make lots and lots of exposition into the equivalent of a great drink in a pricey bar. From the title cards to the angles that reveal even the smallest angles the characters are playing at (or maybe are not playing at, or are again), to the big $ numbers over the heads of everyone in the casino in the climax, and to how he gets such Hollywood Lotharios into bad wigs and mustaches and noses, it's a minor master's class in being hip and accessible for the mall crowd while still being splendid for simple genre admirers.
This time, as well, it's not so much a tale of a heist for the sake of simply putting many millions into the pockets of the thieves, but as a matter of pride (a shake of Sinatra's hand is a point of merit for the older characters in this world, and it is sort of a world, of Las Vegas). Reuben (Gould) gets a heart attack after finding out he's been screwed over by Bank (Pacino), who is some-pun-intended an insanely wealthy man who's opening a new casino Reuben was supposed to be partner on. The Ocean gang decide to strike back at him the worst- letting the house lose, big time, for all the high rollers in attendance on opening night. This time, even more than the first and second films, the heist is elaborate, maybe too elaborate; there's a whole sub-plot devoted to Mexican factory workers who get riled up by Virgil and Turk to rise up against their bosses, despite the fact that they need to keep working to send the fake dice to the casino. Every side is covered, or almost every one, and there are no spots open in this one for romantic entanglements or much else. The element of Reuben bed-stricken is at the heart of the film, and everything else is, simply put, guilty pleasure hijinks of the subtlest kind.
And, naturally, each character has their moments to shine. The aforementioned nose bit from Linus is one of the funniest gags in the whole trilogy, as obvious as it is. Don Cheadle gets to break out of his singularly English bit as Basher to go into daredevil garb to act as a pure distraction to Pacino. On the flip-side, Reiner becomes a prissy English high-roller. Some outsider running gags come in with David Paymer as a board member put into a purposeful bad luck blender. Even Pitt and Clooney get in on the fun, with Rusty donning a ridiculous get-up as a concerned seismologist. Overall, Ocean's Thirteen doesn't make for a very substantial dramatic feat, or even a very great comedy (Bernie Mac isn't as up to snuff as in the first film, and the moments with Oprah are more touching, ironically, than anything laugh-out-loud), but it is in its own superficial and too-cool-for-school way a must-see. 7.5/10