Ocean's 13

I felt pretty indifferent to this movie for over half of its runtime. The filmmakers expect us to be familiar with their characters already (which I was), so they jump into the plot with reckless abandon. It's too quick even - rushed, forced. The setup whips by the viewer too quickly to invest in the characters. I'll admit the filmmakers must have been setting up the slights of hands to come in the film's loaded third act, but I would have liked to follow the action better.

By this third film, the actors involved can sleepwalk through their parts, and they mostly do. I would say that the first film of the series is surface oriented, a unqiue kind of cool. But the third film finds the characters even less fleshed out. On top of that, many of the film's thirteen namesakes make minor ripples in the film with Pitt, Damon, Clooney, and Cheadle doing the heavy lifting. I did love the workers' strike in Mexico involving Casey Affleck and Scott Caan's characters.

Ocean's Thirteen suffers from a zaniness it embraces too tightly, giving itself over to it. Especially strange and awkward is Ellen Barkin (an old favorite of mine from Diner) punch-drunk in lust of Matt Damon's odor. I know the film is not meant to take itself too seriously, but her fawning over him wastes the actress and asks the audience to give too much up in terms of believability.

I also find it interesting that the producers and writers have been able to come up with two more situations after the original where the Ocean gang has to steal or con over $100 million from big pockets. The fact that two of the targets of the film are casinos in Vegas also shows a lack of development in the character and planning of their lives.

All this complaining, but I must recommend the film. I had fun. Once I caught up with what was happening, I was in. Sure, there's all that awkwardness, but what works actually works pretty well. After a while, I just relaxed and let myself fall into the holes the film had dug itself in. The film strives a bit too hard for the cool of the first film, but it still manages to slick through on its own merits.

***