Ocean's Thirteen (2007)

Genre

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Director

Steven Soderbergh

Country

USA

Cast

George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Don Cheadle, Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner, Andy García, Eddie Izzard, Ellen Barkin, Vincent Cassel, Bob Einstein, Olga Sosnovska, David Paymer, Julian Sands, Angel Oquendo, Jerry Weintraub, Scott L. Schwartz, Oprah Winfrey, Bernie Yuman, Noureen DeWulf

Storyline

When Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) is double-crossed in a luxury hotel business with business partner Willie Bank (Al Pacino), he has a heart attack. Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) plot a heist with their friends to avenge Reuben by breaking Bank's casino.

Opinion

Danny Ocean and his lads are back in this unnecessary sequel. Thankfully this time they are in a good shape, and we can finally forget about that mess Ocean's Twelve is.

Well paced, and slightly thrilling, Ocean's Thirteen will keep you entertained without making you feel stupid, even though the surprise element is almost missing.

My biggest complaint here is the plot. It is just way too complicated. I found myself catapulted into the story, but most of the time I had no clue of what was happening. The characters spend way too much time talking about hacking computers, time that is taken from the heist itself. The final also is so obvious. At least the absence of Tess/Julia Roberts and Isabel/Catherine Zeta-Jones is decent, a bit too emphasized though. 

The performances are ok. George Clooney still gives a charismatic performance as Danny Ocean. Brad Pitt has less screen time and that actually turned out to be a good thing. The chemistry between Clooney and Pitt is still great. Matt Damon, the only one trying to act in the previous installment, never gets the chance to shine in here. Al Pacino is suitable as the villain. Unfortunately he hasn't enough screen time to make an effective, and great villain. Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Andy García, Eddie Jemison, Don Cheadle and Vincent Cassel haven't much to do, they are just pieces of the plot. Casey Affleck and Scott Caan have the best moments as the brothers. 

Final thoughts on the series: the gang should have sticked at robbing casinos, not trying to steal Russian's eggs in Europe because in competition with a famous thief.

Quotes

Reuben Tishkoff: The moment you become embarrassed of who you are, you lose yourself.

Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Genre

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Director

Steven Soderbergh

Country

USA

Cast

George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, Vincent Cassel, Andy García, Albert Finney, Eddie Izzard, Bruce Willis, Jeroen Krabbé, Cherry Jones, Robbie Coltrane, Topher Grace, Candice Azzara, Jerry Weintraub, Mini Anden, Jared Harris, Adriano Giannini

Storyline

Three years after pulling an impossible heist at the Bellagio Hotel Casino, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his pals are tracked down by Terry Benedict (Andy García), owner of the casino, who offers them a proposal: repay the $160 million plus interest in two weeks, or die.

Opinion

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

After Ocean's Eleven I couldn't have anything but high hopes for this film. Needless to say I was completely let down. Starting slow, and proceeding even slower, Ocean's Twelve is a boring comedy heist without any comedy, heist, or thrills.

The idea of the Ocean's competing with another famous thief - played by Vincent Cassel - to return the loot to the victim of their first heist could have been interesting. Unfortunately this time the all-star cast didn't work out well. Putting the plot aside for a moment, the film fails in finding its center. For a moment you will think Julia Roberts will have an important role, and may be one of the leads. Then the buck is passed to George Clooney, then to Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and goes back to Clooney, or Pitt, or whoever.

But let's go back to the plot: it is terrible. It is too complex to be followed, and even if you have managed to keep track of who's stealing what from whom, you'll feel a little confused and you won't even care anymore.

The twists, what a mess! How much of a clever twist is Julia Robert's character infiltrating in a museum by disguising herself as Julia Roberts? I knew she would have done something like that the second after Matt Damon's character said, "Have you noticed she looks like...". Looks like some stupid twist of a parody film. How about Linus mom pretending to be a cop and bailing the whole crew out of jail after they all have been arrested?
The greatest thing about Ocean's Eleven, besides from the plot, was the heist scene: simply spectacular. And that's what I, and I suppose people, want to see when watching a film about a heist. I'm sorry to let you down but there is no heist scenes. There is actually one, but it is so bad, it's a crime calling it a heist. I mean, after a hour and plus spent watching the pals pulling of the heist, we find out the actual heist was made days earlier and took Matt Damon only 30 seconds to pull off. Absolutely ridiculous.

The soundtrack is bad, and the beautiful European scenery only served to trick people into watching this crap. There is no acting involved. Everyone's playing themselves. Matt Damon is the only one who's really trying hard to do a good thing.

Quotes

Danny Ocean: Every problem is an opportunity in disguise.

Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Genre

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Director

Steven Soderbergh

Country

USA

Cast

George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Andy García, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, Holly Marie Combs, Topher Grace, Joshua Jackson, Barry Watson, Shane West

Storyline

When Daniel Ocean (George Clooney) is released from prison, his next heist is already planned: he combines an eleven member team, including Frank Catton (Bernie Mac), Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) and Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon), to rob three Las Vegas casinos, all owned by Terry Benedict (Andy García).

Opinion

Remake of the 1960 film starring Frank Sinatra - which I haven't seen -, Ocean's Eleven is an exciting, fast-paced, highly entertaining comedy heist filled with tension, and great performances by an all-star cast.

The film scores a lot of points thank to its plot: it is completely unpredictable, and as things happen, you will never know if something went wrong, or things were planned and supposed to go that way without the audience knowing it.

The ironic and never banal dialogue is supported by some wonderful characters, from Pitt's compulsive eater Rusty, to Damon's insecure but clever Linus, and García's ruthless and arrogant Terry Benedict, Ocean's arch nemesis. The chemistry between Ocean and Rusty is so amazing, in several situations they don't even need to end their talk to understand each other.

I liked the photography, but there was something wrong with the way Julia Roberts was shot. She is beautiful but somehow she really looks bad in this film. The music plays a great role in the film.

George Clooney gives a solid, and charismatic performance as Danny Ocean, as always I'd add. Brad Pitt is wonderful as Rusty. The chemistry between the two Hollywood good-looking men is great. Matt Damon is great as the insecure Linus, and Don Cheadle is hilarious. Elliott Gould, Bernie Mac, and Carl Reiner are all good. Andy García delivers a wonderful performance as Terry Benedict. Scott Caan and Casey Affleck are hilarious as the brothers. Newbie Oscar winner Julia Roberts is wasted for the role: she doesn't have much to do, and any other actress could have done that. But I guess the producers wanted an all-star cast.