Ocean's 13 | B+

director: Stephen Soderbergh
starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, Matt Damon, Eliot Gould, Andy Garcia, Carl Reiner

Author’s note: I wrote this several months ago and it got lost in the shuffle of all my other wildly popular posts. So, here’s my review to prep you for catching it on DVD.

Another fun jaunt through Vegas comes courtesy of the all-star cast and crew of Ocean’s 13, the third flick telling the tale of Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his misfit crew of lovable criminals embarking on a revenge heist at the newest, most lavish hotel on the Strip.

After the (relative) misfire of Ocean’s 12 and its European locale, it’s nice to see the crew back in Vegas. The city’s a character in and of itself, and adds the kind of ambiance that makes these movies work so well. It’s a call-back to the heyday of the Sinatra Vegas–the Vegas populated by charismatic mobsters, no-nonsense gamblers, crooning showmen, and high-class style. Today, we’ve got screaming kids and overweight couples in spandex populating the casinos. It ain’t quite the same. The look and–more importantly–the style of Ocean’s 13 is a bittersweet reminder of how it used to be in Vegas. (Take it from me; I’m 68 years old.)

Enough about that; the movie itself has the same hip style the first two did, with the focus directed more towards the “fun” of 11 than the dry and sometimes unwanted sarcasm of 12. Returning to Vegas has a lot to do with that, as that town is where these characters are truly in their element.

Pretty good; better than the second, but the first is still the gold standard. Some of 13 felt like they were just going through the motions–fun motions, mind you, but still in the “old hat” category of motions. Let’s all do the locomotion.