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Oceans Thirteen

15th June 2007

Director: Steven Soderbergh

No doubt everyone is now familiar with the well worn premise of an Ocean's... movie but the question that lingers after the love-in mess that was Ocean's Twelve is does Soderbergh's motley crue of misfits and conmen still have what it takes to take on the house and win?

The answer is a yes, even if doesn't do so emphatically. The plot is what you have come to expect, Al Pacino fills the villainous shoes of Willy Bank this time around taking the hot seat from Godfather Part Three co-star Andy Garcia. But what modern day Cary Grant, George Clooney, and his rabble of cohorts look to do isn't make a big score for themselves but to settle one.

When Bank's shoddy business dealings leave the groups mentor Reuben (Elliot Gould) down a substantial sum and in a heart-attack induced coma the only recompense is to break 'The Bank' on its opening night - everything in Willy Bank's gaudy ode to himself have to be rigged from slot machines to casino rating to diamonds in an impenetrable fortress. Suspend disbelief and sit back and enjoy as the many tiny facets of Ocean's Thirteen grind into gear.

The story works in that you have come to expect idiotic complications from the second one but this time the cast seems somewhat more focused and Soderbergh regains control of his artistic style that bought him such acclaim in the first place. There is no rivalry for roles but there is also little time to build characters while rushing through to an ultimately predictable finish. George Clooney and Brad Pitt are essentially their Hollywood personas, ditto Matt Damon but the secondary work of Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan and even Eddie Izzard keep you involved. Some scenes seem like throwaway comedy sections - see Affleck/Caan in Mexico and Clooney/Pitt watching Oprah - but it does work.

Destined to always be measured against Ocean's Eleven, which was made to look like celluloid gold by Ocean's Twelve, this is substantially better than the last instalment and even leaves you not hating the idea of Ocean's Fourteen. Just don't expect too much from well worn shoes.

Chris Sloley