Faishon
 Profiles
 QAs
 Events
 Issues/Controversy
 Style
 Flash
Music
 Interviews
 Musician Profile
 Album Reviews
 Musical Notes
 Charts(Bytes)
Entertainment
 Reviews
 TV / Films
 Features
 Star Bytes
Lifestyle
 Profile
 Shop Review
 Restaurant Review
Society
 Profile
 Events
 Features
Columnists
 Fasi Zaka
 Nadeem F Paracha
Regulars
 In The Picture
 Vibes Charts
 Style Watch
 Musical Notes
 Starbytes
 Flash

 
 

Ocean’s Thirteen***1/2
*ing: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino, Matt Damon, Ellen Barker, Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Shaobo Qin, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Carl Reiner and Elliott Gould
Directed by Steven Soderbergh

 
Ocean’s Eleven was a perfect heist film. Its sequel fell short despite the beautiful locations and lovely, glamorous women like Julia Roberts and Catherine-Zeta Jones. With Ocean’s Thirteen, Steven Soderbergh has made definite amends and it is visible throughout the coherent script, hilarious moments and slick action all over again.

The result is a very cool and entertaining film. With the last film, one was sure that the boys will not possibly return to steal again. But this time, it is out of friendship.


Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and gang reunite to take revenge for their old ‘stealing’ buddy Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould). Rueben goes and forms a partnership with a vicious, slimy and nasty casino tycoon Willie Bank (Al Pacino). Willie conveniently dumps Rueben out of the partnership of the Hotel and the Ocean gang can’t stand that.
 


On the opening night, they want everything to go wrong and that means, stealing big and stealing fast, rigging tables and joining hands with their old time enemy Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). Thus begins another round of heist…

The good news is that this is nothing like Ocean’s Twelve. It’s smart, it’s quick and it is not confusing.
One reason why the film works is because of its humour. It is not slapstick comedy but sarcastic, dry humour that Clooney and Pitt are just so good at. In one scene as Rusty (Brad Pitt) walks into Danny’s room, he finds him sniffling and he asks with a look of disbelief and subtle mockery, “Are you watching Oprah?” Watching Oprah and crying isn’t something a cool dude like Danny would admit to but when caught he looks confused and it makes for a hilarious moment. Such scenes provide comin relief throughout the film.

The film works not just because of its coherent script but its huge cast that has collectively delivered stellar performances.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt lead the way here and they both are just such smooth operators. No matter what happens, these guys never lose their cool. They would be able to give James Bond a run for his money. They move in mysterious ways and really, these two are the stars of the show. Matt Damon as Linus has gained more confidence since the first two films. From an insecure, somewhat goofy follower, he has developed a personality of his own here and it works superbly. Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Shaobo Qin, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan and Carl Reiner continue their magic as the grand robbers and prove to be highly effective and entertaining in their supportive role.

As for the two new additions, they bring a refreshing change of pace in the film. Al Pacino as nasty Willie Bank is brilliant. He is, as always, at the top of his game. The godfather hardly ever disappoints. In this film he rocks. As for Ellen Barker, as his right-hand woman she is fantastic. Shrewd, calculative and manipulative, she delivers an ace performance.

On the flipside, the no-reference to Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt respectively does leave one wondering where they are and why the women who were the premise in the first two films have been left out.
One thing is for sure: Ocean’s Thirteen is a boys-out film and they work lethally in this combination.
This year is sequel year for Hollywood and Ocean’s Thirteen is the latest addition. Within its first week, the film has raked in 37.1 million dollars and is going strong against Fantastic Four: Rise of the Sliver Surfer and Evan Almighty.

While the film isn’t as refreshing as the first one, it is still enjoyable… with popcorn of course. So grab a copy now!
--Maheen Sabeeh

*YUCK
**WHATEVER
***GOOD
****SUPER
*****AWESOME