MOVIE NIGHT TRAFFIC LIGHT

Ocean’s Thirteen

PG13

Friday June 8th  2007

Warner Brother Pictures (Distributor: Warner Brother Pictures)

$?

Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve)

Jerry Weintraub (Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve)

Brian Koppelman (Walking Talk, Runaway Jury), David Levien (Walking Talk, Runaway Jury), George Clayton Johnson (Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve), Jack Golden Russell (Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve)

Brad Pitt – Rusty Ryan (Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Spy Game, Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve)

George Clooney – Danny Ocean (Syriana, Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve)

Matt Damon – Linus Caldwell/Lenny Pepperidge (The Departed, Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve)

Al Pacino – Willie Bank (The Recruit, Godfather movies)

Andy Gargia – Terry Benedict (Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve)

Don Cheadle - Basher Tarr/Fender Roads (Reign Over Me, Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve)

Casey Affleck – Virgil Malloy (Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve)

Bernie Mac – Frank Catton (Pride, Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve)

Ellen Barkin – Abigail Sponder (The Big Easy, The Fan)

Ocean’s 13 is the sequel to Ocean’s12, which is the sequel to Ocean’s 11 . . . which is the remake of Ocean’s 11.  Now, if that’s confusing for you, odds are you’ll never figure out what is happening in this crazy movie!

The third Ocean’s is here and most of the same characters are back.  One notable addition to the cast is Al Pacino who plays Willie Bank.  He’s building an extraordinary new casino in the heart of the strip in Las Vegas.  Originally he partners with Rueben (played by Elliot Gould).  But before the opening Bank cuts him out of the deal.  Now it’s revenge time and Ocean’s team is going to carry it out.  Their plan is to rig every game and every table to pay off to the customers and plunder Bank’s take.  One problem though is that they run out of money before they can put their plan in place.  They turn to their nemesis Terry Benedict (played by Andy Garcia) for help.  He’ll help on one condition, the guys have to work into their plan steeling Bank’s legendary diamond collection.  The plan is outrageous and unbelievable, but they put the plan into action.

As fans of Ocean’s 11, we were excited to see that Ocean’s 13 shares many similarities with it.  Same superstar cast, same super cool George Clooney and Brad Pitt.  Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are also very funny, and even though this episode is missing Julia Roberts, it does have the very stunning Ellen Barkin.  But, the story has gone from far fetched in Ocean’s 11 to downright ridiculous in Ocean’s 13.  The plan is absurd, and for every problem they either employ a sad gimmick or a silly gadget to overcome . . . unless, of course, they just bribe somebody.  There’s also some awkward dialogue, and some annoying cinematography.  The cool setting and stellar cast are redeeming qualities, but otherwise Ocean’s 13 is far from being an “odds on favorite.” 

On the Movie Night Traffic Light on a scale of GREEN meaning “Go – it’s a must see”, YELLOW meaning “Caution – it’s okay” and RED meaning “No - stop don’t do it."

We rate Ocean’s Thirteen YELLOW.  Caution – if you like Ocean’s Eleven, you’ll probably like this one, but it’s not great!