The cinema is not a slice of life, it's a piece of cake. - Alfred Hitchcock

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Revenge is a funny thing.

June 11, 2007

Ocean's Thirteen  (Steven Soderbergh, 2007) 

So goes the tagline of the third Ocean’s franchise. Here, revenge is not a dish best served cold, it's more of like a sick prank, and funny at that. In the summer of thirds, finally, I was entertained by this modern gangster caper featuring no less than Hollywood’s A-listers. This summer we have been bombarded by the big studios with third installments of perhaps the most profitable franchises in Hollywood moneymaking, otherwise known as the Spider-mans, the Pirates from the Caribbean, the Shreks and Danny Ocean’s gang. But among the three (I have yet to see Shrek), Ocean’s Thirteen is most satisfying. 

So Danny, Rusty, Linus and the rest of the gang are back, but this time they’re not in it for the money. Oh yes, revenge will be the thing that keeps the fire burning. After Reuben (Elliot Gould) succumbed to myocardial infarction after he is double-crossed by the shady hotel magnate Willy Bank (Al Pacino) rendering him speechless and seemingly brain-dead, the gang vowed to avenge him. So the guys will pull out a grand heist on the opening of Bank’s new casino that will make him all-time bankrupt. And not just any heist, we’re talking of plotting that spans two countries and every unimaginable scheme both planned and spur-of-the-moment.

Grand opening day. Imagine every table in the wide casino expanse winning at least 100,000 bucks not to mention somebody winning the 30 million by just playing roulette. Big time sucker, but Al Pacino plays Banks with a cool restraint that you’d wish he’d lash out some more. Pull out a pistol and start firing or something. But of course this is Danny Ocean’s movie and he still gets to stick out the ‘loser’ finger and telling Banks he wouldn’t call the cops, period. There's also Ellen Barkin who plays Bank's 'right-hand man'. Her exchanges with Matt Damon are one of the things to look forward and also The Incredible Yen whose English vocabulary consists of the word shit.

The whole masterplan for revenge wouldn't immediately strike you funny but unbelievable. These guys have so much love for each other they'd go to such great heights to pull the thing off. Though there are some tricks that borders on irritating it's still enjoyable to watch. Revenge actually comes two-fold and I'd say the second one was funnier. Wait till you get to see Andy Garcia and Oprah herself. So much for espionage really. The most important thing is to enjoy the ride.

Posted by jayclops at 8:40 am | permalink

Previous Comments

I enjoyed this movie. Totally entertaining from start to finish! :-)

Posted by alvin at June 13, 2007, 9:38 pm

yeah. but i hope it ends here. and so goes for the other franchises.

Posted by jayclops at June 14, 2007, 9:10 am

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