Review - Ocean's Thirteen (2007)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, we're finally wrapping up the main Ocean's trilogy with Ocean's Thirteen, the 2007 film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Elliot Gould, Carl Reiner, Shaobo Qin, Eddie Izzard, Vincent Cassel, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Eddie Jemison, Bob Einstein, Ellen Barkin, Julian Sands, and Al Pacino. 

        So, the movie opens with Danny and the boys reuniting in Las Vegas, as Reuben has been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack. You see, Reuben decided to open a bold new casino, The Midas, with an old friend named Willy Bank. However, Bank lives up to his reputation and screws Reuben out of their partnership in exchange for a nominal cash payment, renaming the new hotel/casino as The Bank. 

        Danny initially offers Bank a "Billy Martin," but he doesn't go for it, and within a few months, The Bank is completed and undergoing a soft opening. Calling in their friend Roman Nagel, Danny, along with Rusty and Linus, decide to pull a "Reverse Big Store," rigging as many games as possible to give massive payouts, costing Willy Bank the more than $500 million he needs to win to maintain control of his new hotel/casino. Also, they plan to put Saul Bloom as a fake critic for the prestigious Five Diamond Award, all while treating the real critic, dubbed the VUP, horribly, and giving the poor guy a "Susan B. Anthony" by giving him a massive win in a slots machine. Unfortunately, two complications arise, as it's discovered that Bank has employed the most foolproof tracking system on the planet, GRECO, for his casino, and Danny will need to employ an exit strategy for the people in the casino to get out with their winnings. Apparently, there's a tunneling machine under the streets of Las Vegas that can simulate the seismic waves of an earthquake. Combined with the design of The Bank, it will give the feeling of a real earthquake, and thus the exit strategy. 

         So, to rig the games, the slot machines are programmed for a timed interval combo of coins before the lever is pulled to give the big payout, Virgil and Turk are sent down to Mexico to pour a magnetic solution into the mix for the dice that will.be used for craps, the roulette tables will have the regular balls swapped out for loaded balls, and the shuffle machines for the blackjack tables will be rigged to shuffle the game to a player's favor. And, things go fairly well, except for a labor dispute in Mexico, the tunneling machine breaking down, and thus needing to acquire another one, and needing to set up an inside man in the form of Frank. How to set Frank up as the inside man AND get the money for the backup tunneling machine? Both have the same answer: Terry Benedict. Benedict's price? Danny and the guys have to steal a set of diamond necklaces that Bank has on display, each one representing each time he's won the Five Diamond Award. Danny and the boys had initially thought of stealing the diamonds, but decided against it as it wouldn't be feasible in a short time. But now? They have to steal the diamonds, as well. 

          This means they need a super high roller to be an insider. And, this is where Yen, with Linus as a translator, comes in. However, the initial plan to steal the diamonds wasn't going to work. But, Bank's number two, a woman named Abigail Sponder, has access to the diamonds. And, Linus uses this as the perfect way to get himself in the room with the diamonds. Why? Well, how do I put this? Abigail Sponder, it turns out, is a cougar. Not the animal, mind you, but -- ah, you guys get the idea. 

        So, the night of Bank's grand opening is set, and the slot machines, magnetic dice, loaded roulette balls are already in place. However, Sponder had called in an FBI agent, who is also working with Danny to remove Livingston from the casino floor and replace all of the blackjack tables with the rigged tables. Using a magnetron disguised as a golden cell phone, the GRECO is temporarily disabled, the drilling machine is activated, and the plan goes into effect, with many individuals winning big. Meanwhile, using a "Gilroy," Linus uses his disguise to seduce Sponder, and the diamonds for fakes. Unfortunately, the FBI agent brought in grabs Linus, and takes him to the elevator while in the elevator, we learn that the FBI agent is, in fact, Linus' father Bobby Caldwell. 

       But, Benedict was looking to two-time Danny and the guys by having Toulour in the roof to nab the diamonds. Only, he grabbed the fakes as the diamonds were never switched out. With all the money running out the door, Danny has one last confrontation with Bank, and remarks that anyone Bank would send after Danny like Danny more, Bank won't risk calling the police, and hints that it was all payback for what Bank did to Reuben by remarking "you shook Sinatra's hand. You should've known better, Willy." And, Bank is just in the right spot to witness the diamonds being airlifted out. Celebrating by watching a fireworks show, Danny surprises Reuben with a few acres of prime real estate on the North End of the Strip. As for Benedict, Danny goes to tell him his cut from the heist was donated, in his name, to a charitable group called Camp To Belong. And, despite not being okay with it, Benedict goes on Oprah to talk about the massive charitable donation. Linus, Rusty, and Danny go their separate ways, with Linus going to work with his father, Danny going elsewhere, and Rusty giving the "Susan B. Anthony" to the VUP, who is very happy to have won big on slots in the airport. 

          Ocean's Thirteen was something of a back-to-basics movie for the Ocean's franchise. Going back to Las Vegas was brilliant, seeing the Eleven back together was fantastic, and even seeing the returns of Andy Garcia as Benedict, Vincent Cassel as Toulour, and Eddie Izzard as Roman was fun. Some of the new players like Ellen Barkin as Sponder, Julian Sands as Greco (the creator of the GRECO system), and Al Pacino as Willy Bank were all excellent, with Al Pacino being the big standout. Also, I liked that we finally got to see Bobby Caldwell, and Bob Einstein played the role extremely well. And, that means that across the Ocean's trilogy, we met Linus in Eleven, Linus' mother in Twelve, and Linus' father in Thirteen. 

       The idea of giving the Eleven a more personal reason for going after Bank was kind of clever, as it made it less about the money and more about settling a score with a man who wronged one of their own. As the film's own tag line says: "revenge is a funny thing." And, to see how much Danny and the guys have to go through just to screw over Willy Bank, who had screwed over Reuben, was a whole lot of fun, and insanely funny. Easily my second favorite after Ocean's Eleven, I'm giving Ocean's Thirteen a rating of 4.85/5. Now, there was another Ocean's movie released, but I will be saving that one for March of next year. As for my next review? Join me in a few days for my review of The Bourne Supremacy.