“Thirteen” is not all that lucky for “Ocean’s.”
Like pretty much every other blockbuster franchise going this summer, Hollywood’s cutest bad boys return to the well for a third time. This time director and co-producer Steven Soderbergh and Company dredge up once uber-spicy veterans Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin as foils for another wildly elaborate, comedy-tinged heist caper. But the former co-stars from the masterful erotic thriller “Sea of Love,” both identified for their alluring danger onscreen, are given boring stock characters to perform here.
This leaves us with the physical charms of and sparkling chemistry among George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and the rest of “Ocean’s Thirteen’s” cuddly gang of buddy criminals to put over the series’ most contrived, unsubstantiated plot yet. The action returns from Europe and leaves Julia Roberts behind (thank goodness!) after the even more disastrous sequel “Twelve.” Today’s picture goes back to the scene of the original Rat Pack version and the first Clooney remake, “Ocean’s Eleven,” with the swishy glamour of contemporary Las Vegas at center stage. At least the shimmering casino sets and fabulously dressed hotties give us something to revel in when the dashed-off one-liners and often banal dialogue flag.
If you haven’t seen “Eleven” or “Twelve,” too bad. “Thirteen” does little to re-establish who’s who and what’s what among the loyal thieves led by supercool Danny Ocean (Clooney). The guys reassemble for a revenge job after their cohort financier Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) is screwed over and nearly dies from being conned out of his share of a new casino by Vegas real estate titan Willie Banks (Pacino).
There’s very little specificity to this villain’s personality as written; he’s just your basic greedy, mean rich dude. His chief aide Abigail Sponder (Barkin) is similarly stereotypical: the dislikably strident female business barracuda/nymphomaniac. (Even when entertaining, the boy-centric “Ocean’s” movies are nothing if not sexist in their ridicule of women.)
The grinning hooligans construct an intricate plan to thwart the casino’s state-of-the-art security system, rig the gaming tables against the house, and put Willie out of business. As they navigate various story roadblocks, surprise twists and the eccentricities of Danny’s second-tier crooks — always funny Scott Caan and Casey Affleck in particular — we in the audience at least get a chance to feel like we’re hip by osmosis just watching Clooney and Pitt especially. Their mutually oozing charisma makes up for a lot even in easy-to-swallow and even-easier-to-forget material like “Ocean’s Thirteen.”
‘Ocean’s Thirteen’
2/5 stars
Starring: George Clooney, Al Pacino, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Rated PG-13 for brief sensuality
