Hale Kilinahe: Pith of Pop: Ocean's Thirteen

2007. Warner Bros. Pictures. Directed by Steven Soderburgh. Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin

Ocean's Twelve was so disappointing, so awful, that when I heard a third Ocean's movie was in the works, I was actually angry. I couldn't imagine how they could bring back the story in a satisfying way.

I went to see Thirteen with my husband, despite myself. And I have to say, I left happy. Now, I'm not saying I liked this movie as much as I liked Eleven. Eleven is one of my favorite movies and this movie doesn't come anywhere close to the original.

For starters, Julia Roberts is not in this movie. That is a huge improvement unto itself. I like Julia Roberts; I just can't stand her as Tess. Tess is pretty unnecessary as a character. It's hard to believe that Danny (Clooney) and Rusty (Pitt) hang out with girls at all, let alone someone like Tess.

Al Pacino is a class act. Even in his bad movies (Devil's Advocate, anyone?), he gives his roles all he has. He plays Willy Bank, who is the spawn of Donald Trump and Satan. He has just swindled Danny's good friend and mentor Reuben Tischkoff (Elliott Gould) out of a bunch of money. Reuben has a heart attack and is incapacitated. Danny and Rusty decide to get the crew back together and stick it to Bank in a predictably spectacular fashion.

Given a choice between hanging out with Rusty and Danny and hanging out with the rest of their crew, I'd go anywhere with the crew. Part of the reason Twelve left such a bad taste in my mouth is that the story focused so heavily on Rusty and Danny. What made the original so great was the ensemble cast.

For instance: Turk and Virgil (Scott Caan and Casey Affleck). I think Turk and Virgil deserve their own movie. They could pull their own caper off in Rome or something and have adventures and crack jokes. Caan and Affleck have such great chemistry. And I love the way that everyone understands Yen (Shaobo Qin) perfectly, despite the language barrier.

Ellen Barkin has always been one of my favorite actresses. She kind of reprises her role from The Big Easy. She adds a great spark to a character who could be flat.

Thanks for the review. I'll have to check out the movie. I liked both 11 & 12 but agree with you that 12 was too focused on Rusty & Danny.
Posted by Geoff (aka xforce11) at June 21, 2007 4:15 PM