problems throughout but the cool style will carry you if you switch off your brain

Rating: Null/10 (15 June 2007)

When Reuben is double crossed by hotel and casino owner Willie Bank, Danny Ocean comes to see if he can appeal to Bank's code of honour and make him do the right thing. When this rather naïve approach fails, Ocean calls in his gang to organise an incredibly elaborate sting on the things that Bank cares most about  his money, his awards and his reputation.
The Eleven remake was like a guilty pleasure  all slick and stylish but with no substance but yet still fun and effortlessly enjoyable. Twelve was more of the same but a messy plot did suck the life out of it and meant it was significantly less fun. I came to Thirteen off the back of good reviews, but then that was the same story with Twelve so I did have some degree of caution. Thirteen sort of sits in the middle of these two films, not quite as messy as Twelve but not quite as slick and fun as Thirteen. The reasons for this are many but I must stress that the film more or less still works as a popcorn movie that is a welcome sight after the parade of rubbish threequels so far this summer (Shrek, Spiderman, Pirates).
The problem I did have with it was that it seemed a little bit less like they had come up with a cool narrative and then build around that with as many stars as possible. Rather, they knew the stars were there for it and it was a matter of coming up with a plot. Sadly the plot doesn't totally ring true because there is too much in it that I questioned. Of course the first film wasn't set in the real world but it had the pace and cool points for me to just go with it. Here the whole drilling thing was an issue for me and the "con" was too elaborate  even by the standards of this film series! A little too much going on in that area does rather mean it sags as soon as it takes its foot off the pedal  even if that is only for a second or two. Mostly the material here just retreads the ideas from the first movie, but makes everything a bit bigger to try and make it have the same effect. It doesn't totally work as you can see the stretch marks on it and how worn some of it feels. It does lack freshness and it is telling that the only bit I thought was really quite imaginative and original was also pretty amusing was the wonderful absurdity of Virgil's part of the scam stalling as he leads a fight for worker rights.
Of course it helps to have Soderberg on board as director because, as his own cinematographer, he makes the film look great and the post-production draws on this with great music and effects which really make the whole thing look and feel like it is being project onto the finest silk. Even when the material is weak (and at times it is very weak), the style and the slick delivery really carry it. Of course for many viewers this will be far from enough but, as much as I hate to admit being won over by style without substance, it does work here.
Helping build this feel yet again is a cast list to die for. This is obviously a big selling point of the film but it does have its downside. Mainly this is in how little everyone but Brad and George actually has to do or say and this has the knock-on effect of making the film feel a bit like a red carpet parade rather than a story. Pitt and Clooney are great in it and show why women everywhere love them; they are slick and smooth throughout and have the lion's share of the film. Damon's material is weak and he was only OK as a result  he didn't convince with Barkin and why he was wearing the nose from The Hours I'm not sure. Pacino is a good addition and works well on screen without really trying  however it might have been more fun to give him the material and let him loose. Cheadle has scaled back his accent and also has very, very little to do or say. Qin is OK, as are Gould, Mac, Affleck, Caan, Reiner and a few others  nobody really ever threatening to steal the film. Izzard did well to get as many scenes as he did while Julian Sands managed to not be the kiss of death than he is known for being (although he was hardly in it) I thought Ellen Barkin looked great (not "for her age"  just great) but the material given to her is weak as her strong and sexy character is reduced to stumbling around panting by some unknown chemical. Garcia wasn't used that well either but compared to the pointless bit for Cassel he is the heart of the narrative.
Overall then, this is pretty much what I expected and I quite enjoyed it when it was slick and fun but it is hard not to see where the lack of substance is causing a void that sucks everything else back a bit. Eleven was a mindless pleasure and although Thirteen is not quite at that level it is certainly better than Twelve.