Friday Jun 8
palabras ARACELI CRUZ
Director Steven Soderbergh and his team of A-list actors are back for Ocean’s Thirteen and it’s good to see they haven’t missed a step.
The most refreshing aspect of another playful installation of the “will they, won’t they” pull off the job is the batch of good additions to the cast, minus (thankfully) Julia Roberts. The biggest A-lister this go-around is Al Pacino, who plays the egotistical Las Vegas’ king of hotels Willy Bank who screws Ruben (played by Elliot Gould) out of a major hotel investment which consequently lands him in the hospital.
When Ocean and his entourage get word of Ruben’s affliction, the team drops everything to be by his side and quickly begin to scheme up a plan against Bank, because as they say “Bank stepped over the line.” And if anyone (under 50) can go head-to-head with Al Pacino it's Mr. Debonair himself - George Clooney.
Ocean and his sidekick Rusty (played by Brad Pitt) team up with their newest accomplice Roman Nagel (played by the riveting Eddie Izzard) to sort out Bank’s demise, which ultimately includes making him lose a fortune during the hotel’s grand opening, swindle him out of winning his coveted 5-diamond necklace award for best hotel, that he has won 4 years in row and therein part steal his diamond necklace awards.
But how will they do it? Especially after Roman has informed his associates of Bank’s state of the art security system that actually has a mind of its own. “Can’t we just cut the wires?” Ocean asks. Ocean may be old school, but that’s why he has his talented team including swindler Linus (played by Matt Damon), the techy Basher (played by Don Cheadle), the real old-schooler Saul (played by Carl Reiner) and the rest of the crew. Planning Bank’s downfall is when the real fun begins.
Everyone has their game plan, their individual assignment, including Virgil (played by Casey Affleck) who is working in a factory in Mexico and gladly instigates a riot to increase the workers pay raise. Audiences are left out of the big picture, but it’s cool to see how the entire throw-down transpires.
As the team encounters a major financial glitch, which could sabotage their entire retribution plan against Bank, Linus reminds Ocean and Rusty about the one guy who can really help them out, money wise.
That’s where Terry (played by Andy Garcia) comes in. Terry mysteriously complies with Ocean’s proposal even though he was his prey in Ocean’s Eleven.
Now everything is set to go, but will they be successful? Virgil is protesting in Mexico, Linus is trying to seduce Bank’s right hand-woman Abigail (interestingly played by Ellen Barkin) in order to get to the diamonds and there seems to be someone watching all of this go down.
Ocean’s Thirteen is more appealing than the previous ones because we get more history behind Ocean’s team and the reasons for their loyalty towards each other, and eventually it’s really not about the money or the power, it’s about their bond and accomplishing a challenge together.
The reason these films have been a fun ride, and successful, is due to the comedy between the mega-actors (dynamically crafted by Soderbergh). These superstars aren’t taking themselves too seriously, therefore the humoristic repertoire works.