Ocean's Thirteen

Plot synopsis:
Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), in an attempt to legitimize himself in his later years, is conned by his business partner and ruthless businessman Willy Bank (Al Pacino). When Bank forces Tishkoff to sign over the ownership rights of the new hotel/casino they were building together, Reuben suffers a heart attack from the revelation and becomes bed-ridden. Danny Ocean (George Clooney) offers Bank a chance to set things right, given his long history in Las Vegas and the fact that he "shook hands with Frank Sinatra", but Bank refuses. Danny gathers up his partners-in-crime and plans to completely ruin Bank on the night of the opening of his new casino, "The Bank", as a way to get revenge for Reuben.They decide to do so in two ways. First, they plan to prevent Bank's new hotel from winning the prestigious Five Diamond Award from the Royal Review board, which Bank has already won four times before with other casinos. Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) poses as the reviewer of the board and cons Bank into giving him V.I.P treatment while, the real reviewer (David Paymer), is treated as a V.U.P (Very Unimportant Person) during his stay, by Ocean's associates and paid staff members. They even push the insult to infecting him with skin disease and have him evicted from the hotel due to lack of hygiene.The second plan is to rig the casino's slot machines and other gambling games to force the hotel to pay out more than $500 million in winnings so Bank would be forced to cede control of the hotel to his board. They find a foil in their plan when they realize that most gamblers, not in on the plan, will simply bet their winnings again and lose it. They need a way to have people winning huge amounts of money and then leave.But their biggest concern is when they learn that "The Greco Player Tracker", a new state-of-the-art artificial intelligence system that ensures that all winnings are legitimate by measuring the players' biometric responses for authenticity, have been installed in Bank's casino. They call upon Roman Nagel (Eddie Izzard) to find a way to defeat it. Nagel tells them it is unbeatable unless they provide a giant magnetron or a natural disaster. They decide to go for both. Learning that Bank is seeking a new cell phone made out of gold, they use their connections to have the cell phone delivered to Bank with a magnetron, created by Nagel, hidden inside. To make sure Bank goes to the Greco's server room, Ocean's team acquires one of the giant drills used to bore the Channel Tunnel to simulate an earthquake under the hotel on its gala opening night. The fake earthquake also provides a solution to have gamblers leave the casino once their winning is done.While the group prepares the rigged games, they run into problems when the drill breaks. The group find themselves out of ressources and money and consider quitting when Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon), out of desperation, suggest they speak with Terry Benedict (Andy García). Ocean reluctantly approaches his nemesis to fund the purchase of the second drill. While Benedict has a grudge against Bank and is willing to help, he only offers Ocean the funds if they also steal the four diamond necklaces Bank has purchased everytime he won a Diamond Awards. They are currently on display in a secured case at the top level of the hotel. Ocean plans for Linus, disguised as an assistant to a powerful man, to seduce Bank's assistant, Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin), to gain access to the display and switch the diamonds with fake ones.On opening night, Ocean's plan is threatened when agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show up, having been tipped off that machines have been rigged by Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison), and have Livingston identified and arrested. Ocean knows Bank has an illegal access to FBI records and fears they're about to be revealed when he goes looking for Livingston's know associates. Basher (Don Cheadle) improvises a distraction for Bank long enough to allow the gang to hack into the FBI records and change them.Linus is about to succeed his part of the plan when the lead officer of the FBI walks in the room and arrest him. It turns out the FBI officer is Danny's friend and Linus's father, Bobby Calwell (Bob Einstein), who's in on Ocean's plan and there to help Linus swap the diamonds. As they exit to the roof of the hotel for extraction via helicopter, they are caught by François "The Night Fox" Toulour (Vincent Cassel), whom, under Benedict's orders, have been spying on the team all along and is there to intercept the diamonds. Linus hands over the diamonds to Toulour, who leaves by parachuting down from the roof. It is then revealed that Ocean was aware of Toulour's presence all along and that Toulour was given fake diamonds. Toulour throws away the diamonds, angry that Ocean and his crew has fooled him with a fake replica for the second time. Meanwhile, Linus and his father extract the entire display case from the hotel with the helicopter.The remainder of Ocean's plan continues as expected. The Greco is disrupted, guests leaves the hotel with their bountiful winnings while the helicopter flies away with the diamonds and the reviewer from the Royal Review Board informs Bank that he will not get a diamond award. As Bank realizes his defeat, Ocean lets him know that he's responsible for the whole thing and did it for Reuben. Bank tries to threaten Ocean but Ocean informs him that he knows the people Bank would hire to hurt Danny and they already like him a lot more than they like Bank.The group uses the money they made off with to buy property north of the Las Vegas Strip for Reuben to build his own casino. As punishment for Benedict's treachery, Ocean donates his portion of the take to charity, forcing Benedict to pretend philanthropy. As the group disperses on their own and considers settling down, Rusty ensures that the RRB reviewer is compensated for all his troubles by allowing him to win a $11 million jackpot at a rigged slot machine at the airport.

Tags: revenge, entertaining, flashback

Review:
I think that's what's happened with Ocean's 12 for many but l hope this doesn't mean that they won't be watching '13'.I was happy to see all of the same characters and actors together again because that is one big cool cast.
Arguably a plot on a smaller scale would have been better with a sharp focus on one or two characters as in the first film.While flashy this film is all about style over substance and if you are looking for a shallow but entertaining summer movie this may just be it..
This is an entertaining film considering George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac and Casey Affleck are in it but yet it isn't as well made or enjoyable as its predecessors..
However after re watching Ocean's Eleven, I decided to give it a chance, perhaps Soderbergh at made an effort this time, perhaps it would reclaim the glory of the original movie.
The return to Las Vegas has also seen a return of a great script, a plot that is followable, decent jokes and also just a sense of fun that Ocean's Twelve was sorely lacking.
This is a good thing as it allows more people to see the quality first movie and then not have to worry about seeing the horrific second one before seeing the best of the series.Ocean's Eleven worked particularly well because of its starry cast, and the fact the cast were clearly having an absolute ball making the movie.
Matt Damon has some great comedic moments here and there, Andy Garcia continues his role with style, Eddie Izzard's character actually seems to have a point here, and all the rest of the cast just carries on perfectly.
This time, Danny tries to talk sense into Willie Bank, the owner of a series of highly rated "5 Diamonds" hotels who double-crossed one of Eleven, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), on a hotel deal causing the man a heart-attack and coma-like state.
Besides Ocean and his Eleven (who all have fun with their parts but this time Carl Reiner was simply outstanding), it was good to see David Paymer as an unlucky (or was he?) hotel reviewer and Eddie Izzard as a famous computer hacker.
They are back and now there are 13...The movie is any day better than ocean's twelve (which i think was really bad) but still not as good as the original!
Retaining the cool style & lighthearted vibe of its predecessors, the film does many things right but is still forgettable in the end.The story of Ocean's Thirteen is set in motion when one of the original eleven is double crossed by his former business partner who now owns his new hotel-casino.
When the gang finds out about it, they decide to avenge him by concocting a plan to spoil the new hotel's opening night but to pull it off, they turn to a foe who shares their contempt for the common enemy and offers his assistance.Directed by Steven Soderbergh, Ocean's Thirteen marks a little improvement over its predecessor and, by taking a persona route, brings something new to the table.
Clooney & Pitt once again lead from the front but Damon gets a promotion as well while the rest play their part as expected.On an overall scale, Ocean's Thirteen is a satisfactory conclusion to the saga of Danny Ocean & his associates, if not a memorable one, and offers a good, lighthearted dose of fun & amusement just like its predecessors.
This time , Benedict (Andy Garcia) agrees with Ocean backed by his motley gang to execute it , the group is the same people (Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Scott Cahan, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck , Carl Reiner, Qin) .
I was waiting for "Ocean's Thirteen" with a lot of excitement since George Clooney is one of my favourite actors but I was absolutely disappointed when finally watching the movie.
"The robb'd that smiles, steals something from the thief." Shakespeare's Othello Andy Garcia's wealthy Terry Benedict is financing Danny Ocean's Vegas heist from casino owner Willie Bank (Al Pacino) in order to get the last smile of vengeance, thief to thief, while Danny and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) exact their own revenge.
No honor among these slick reprobates, and good time is had by all the men and, this time, not Julia Roberts, but Clooney's real-life squeeze, Ellen Barkin, as Abigail Sponder, tough right hand to Bank.I go to most movies as a film critic with my sensibility well-guarded against the fluffy confection of just another heist.
Pitt retorts, "Have a couple of kids." This is typical of the low-key, sweetly narcissistic third installment.Ocean's hits a lucky thirteen this time around without a big jackpot but a great deal of good will..
And plenty less to make it fun to watch.If the enjoyability of your movie depends entirely on the personalities of your actors, and Ocean's most certainly does, then you'd better come up with something cool for them to say and do.
At least this Ocean travesty is not the embarrassment that was "Mission Impossible 3", but it's too much for Soderbergh, Clooney, Pitt, Damon and the guys; they've taken it too far.I invited a friend to watch the film and he said he didn't want to because he hadn't seen the first two.
The three films were written by different people and involve one or more big heists that develop throughout the piece; you don't need to be a genius to write something funny and the effort is less if persons like a relaxed Clooney, Pitt and Pacino (what a waste) are saying your lines.
And the fact that they wanted to travel to Europe and that they invented a plot line to pull the second film off there is so joyful; because cinema can be about having fun and that's the formula these guys chose: slick fun.But when "Ocean's 13" begins, you can sense something's missing; it's the fun.
Maybe the whole movie takes itself seriously (which I doubt), but that naturalness and coziness I mentioned is gone; and the film just doesn't flow.Fortunately, Soderbergh's camera is still a highlight, filling the piece with complex and riveting shots, and the old pros Carl Reiner and Elliott Gould have a blast; but Casey Affleck's Spanish speaking and an entire Mexican plot line is completely out of place.
Let's just hope the honorable Soderbergh doesn't get the team back for a fourth round: it's not working anymore.One more thing: there's a character played by David Paymer...It must be one of the most unfortunate characters in movie history...Watch and tell me if I'm wrong..
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 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.
I think, ultimately, the reason the first movie was so good, was because it was fun, funny, and witty, but still knew the difference between "when to be funny" and "when to not be funny." Andy Garcia's character was dangerous, and treated as such.
It was a real movie, and just as good on repeat viewings, due to a really original and fresh approach (as well as some great one-liners).The second movie wasn't reviewed nearly as well, and having watched it again since, it's really not bad either, except for the huge and sudden changes in tone throughout, as well as the fact that it pulls the last 10 minutes out of its rear end.
It was originally written as a different movie, then re-tooled for the "Ocean's" cast, and you can kinda tell; it's darker, tries to be more clever than it actually is, and as a result, is a lot less fun.Whatever strengths the first two movies may or may not have had, the third is lacking them all, except the actors.
There are just too many characters around and many more angles to think your way through.I give this movie a 6/10 just for giving the audience the likes of Pacino, Clooney, Pitt, Matt, Don Cheadle and Garcia to feast their eyes upon.Chill out on your bean bag and wait for the DVD release to watch this flick.
After the disastrous "Ocean's Twelve" was released in 2004, I ended my review by asking, "We've already had this saga sliced 11 and 12 ways with noticeably diminishing results; do they dare go for unlucky 13?" Well, at long last that question has been answered, and it has come in the form of a good news/bad news proposition.
The bad news is that it is ONLY a slight improvement.For this latest entry in the series (which began, it is easy to forget, with the genuinely entertaining "Ocean's Eleven" in 2001), writers Brian Koppelman and David Levien, and director Steven Soderbergh have at least had the wisdom to return the boys back to Las Vegas, not traipsing all over Europe on what seemed like a high-cost junket for a bunch of already overpaid actors.
In "Thirteen," Danny Ocean and his "crew" of con artist buddies rally behind the ailing Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould), who has just been cheated out of his portion of a brand new casino by his unscrupulous partner, the allegorically named Willie Bank (Al Pacino), who wants the business all to himself.
The plan is to sabotage Bank's place so it will go belly-up even before it officially opens.At the beginning, "Ocean's Thirteen" seems like it might turn out to be a fairly decent caper movie, but after about the first half hour or so, a noticeable fatigue and lethargy begin to creep into both the writing and the performances.
Very quickly, the plot runs out of steam and we come to sense that the all-star players - George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia, Carl Reiner et.
And without their acting like it matters, it makes it hard for us in the audience to feel that any of it matters either."Ocean's Thirteen" may be better than "Ocean's Twelve," but it's still a largely half-hearted effort that does little to burnish the reputation of the original movie.
I understand it must've been a real blast for Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon and the rest of the cast making this film but watching it was nowhere near a party.
The story was tight, the gags worked, I loved the fast-paced, quick-witted dialogue (the characters speak like those out of a 1950's movie), and there were only a few dull moments.
The other 2 oceans films were at least good to watch but this movie is a real stinker.
this movie is really a waste of time and if you like it then you do not no what a good film is..
A boat load of stars standing around while the director, (was one even on the set?), has them run through a few reaction shots, read a few lines, stand up, move around a little and in the end just insert edit their payday work into a standard low budget, no brain caper film that has the look of last years 'I've got all the new FX plug-ins' on my cool Final Cut Pro machine.
If I rated this movie with 5 it was only for the performance of its cast including some famous actors like George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Al Pacino whose talents are here clearly wasted..
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) plots a heist with their friends to revenge Reuben breaking Bank's casino.The first point that calls the attention in "Ocean's Thirteen" certainly is the constellation of stars in the cast.
"Ocean's thirteen" is a good way to spend a movie - going evening.
Ellen Barkin, funny and a great character.3.........No lets just stop at 2, can't think of anymore.Overall I hated this movie, will give it 2 stars for the two "good" points.Keep your money in your pocket and avoid this self obsessed, over indulgent mess.** out of **********.
But the way Danny and his gang go about planning the robbery is simply amazing.To me all the Ocean's movies themes (as they are presented) looks like as easy as getting down from a tram and leisurely walking to my home, opening the house with the key, and taking money out and waving at my own self as I walk out of my home.I know that there are die-hard fans of Ocean's series, and for them this movie would be really funny, witty, intelligent, and thriller series they can't miss.
I was waiting at least to have fun and i had!!Steven Sonderberg sets Willie Bank(Al Pacino),a man whose each one of his hotels has won the prize of 5 diamonds,deceiving Reuben who supposed to be a partner.So Ocean and his team decides to pay back for their friend...They set a plan in which they hope to destroy the dream of Willie Bank!In their new heist they have a new member...Better than the previous but not than the first one,"Ocean's Thirteen" leaves you with a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction!
I'm not going to waste anyones time with a brief summary of the film but i will say this: This movie was extremely fun and enjoyable from beginning to end.To begin with, nearly the entire movie is the team pulling the job against Willie Bank, and thats perfectly suitable because their was a lot to tell.
The other cast - who knows what they were doing - some guy used to keep dealing cards and getting them all over the floor.I have to say that star power is an awesome thing - even with complete lack of coherence and intelligence in how the plot was cobbled together every time I woke up either Matt or Clooney or Brad kept my eyes glued to the screen for a few minutes before the snoozies set in.
The main stars, George Clonney and Brad Pitt, are more than pretty faces, as we saw in "Syriana" and "Babel" respectively, and Al Pacino and Andy Garcia are sadly underused, with even the one female character Ellen Barkin utterly wasted.Yet, as before, Steven Soderbergh keeps things moving along and gives us plenty of flashy scenery and camera-work, so many viewers will not notice that they've been mugged..
There was no area where you thought how the hell are they going to get out of this one as in previous movies, you sort of new exactly how it was going to happen.There seemed to be just far too many characters and because of that the actors have no time to develop any depth to their characters.The best points in this movie as always for myself is the wonderful dialogue between clooney and pitt, and the ultra chic music that thumps along and makes you want to run off to vegas and join Oceans team lol.At no point in this movie did I exclaim "What The ?", was more like "cool but i saw that one coming" Overall this is a wonderful, fun filled ride, however ultimately it brings nothing new to the franchise and adds nothing fresh.
It's a huge leap forward in quality when compared to its immediate predecessor, but it doesn't quite reach the novelty and sheer fun that the first had in spades.We return to Las Vegas as Reuben (Elliott Gould) has fallen to some hard times, being cheated on a casino deal by heinous Willy Bank (Al Pacino) and now it's up to Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his crew to settle the score.
Now Al Pacino played as always brilliantly, but that was thanks to his talent, NOT Steven Soderbergs actor directing, because he didn't get anything out of Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon or for that matter the rest of the cast.
After the grand heist and goofing off (well, mostly goofing off) in Europe, director Steven Soderbergh and the gang return to Las Vegas to plan yet another scheme of a slick looking production that rings hollow and without much payoff.Danny Ocean's (George Clooney) friend Reuben (Eliott Gould) suffers a heart attack after getting cut out of a hotel business deal with Willy Banks (Al Pacino), a notorious businessman in Sin City.
To get even, Ocean, Rusty (Brad Pitt), Linus (Matt Damon) and the other compadres team up with Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) to bring down Banks by bankrupting the hotel on its grand opening night.The plotting is never really as compelling as it could be, and "Ocean's Thirteen" doesn't boast enough finesse and skill in its execution to make the film fun for most of its running time.
No point to this movie at all, i feel bad for the people that wasted their time making and watching it.
However, by the end of "13" it is clear that the "Ocean's" series has played itself out.For a basic plot summary, this movie sees Danny Ocean (George Clooney), Rusty (Brad Pitt), and the rest of the gang (this time featuring Matt Damon in a much larger role) back in Vegas, where this time they are getting a little revenge on casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) for putting Reuben (Elliot Gould) in the hospital.The biggest "plus" about this film is that it goes back to Vegas, the setting that these kinds of movies need to feature.
Now I think George Clooney and brad Pitt did a great job in both of the other films but in this one it feels like they're being lazy and phoning it in which is hugely disappointing considering how good they have been.