Today's Cinema Saturday is part 3 of my series on the Ocean's franchise.
From 2007, it's Ocean's Thirteen, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, and Elliott Gould. And joining the cast this time around, Ellen Barkin and Al Pacino.
After the not so successful detour from the basics of a comedy heist film with Ocean's Twelve, the 3rd film is a return to what works.
It's back to Vegas, baby and to rob a casino and really fuck over a son of a bitch who deserves it.
The son of a bitch who deserves it is Willy Bank (Pacino), an investor and casino mogul who fucks over Reuben Tishkoff by having his thugs strongarm Reuben into signing over his ownership stake of the newest and hottest casino in Las Vegas.
Reuben Tishkoff suffers a heart attack and becomes bedridden.
To avenge Tishkoff, Danny Ocean gathers his crew and plans to ruin Bank on the opening night of the hotel.
Objective #1: Prevent Bank from winning the prestigious Five Diamond Award, which all of his previous hotels have won. They feed Bank intel on who the anonymous Five Diamond reviewer is (it;s not) while the real reviewer, well...
Everything that can go badly for this poor schmuck goes super badly.
Objective #2: Steal a shit ton of money from the casino on it's opening night. Rigging the tables and machines is not a big problem for Danny and his crew but Willy Bank is using...
SCIENCE!
Bank has a state-of-the-art computer system that monitors the gamblers' biometric responses and detects cheating.
So the Danny's crew will use...
MORE SCIENCE!!!
- They've got a magnetron to zap Bank's computer thing.
- And a drilling machine to simulate an earthquake under the casino.
But there's a hitch! The drill breaks! The gang can get another one but it will take money.
You have to spend money to steal money.
The only person Danny Ocean knows with that kind of money is Terry Benedict.
Yep, the bastard Danny and his gang robbed in the first movie.
Terry actually agrees to spring for a new drill. Hey, Terry Benedict is bastard but Willy Bank is a BIGGER bastard.
Although Benedict is not completely on Team Ocean; he contracts with François "The Night Fox" Toulour (from Ocean's Twelve) to steal from Bank as well.
The night of the grand opening arrives and the various moving parts of the plans and scheme and counter-schemes whirl into motion.
Things go according to plan.
Except when they don't.
Except that's part of the plan.
In the end, Danny Ocean makes it known to Willy Bank who did what to him and to why. Bank should've never fucked over Reuben Tishkoff like that.
Basically, Ocean's Thirteen is a rehash of Ocean's Eleven but it varies the plot enough to make it interesting and restores what makes a comedy heist film work.
- The person being robbed deserves it.
- The robbers may be criminals but they're still good guys.
And so ends the Ocean's Trilogy but we're not done with the franchise yet.
Sometime in April, the ladies take the lead with Ocean's 8.
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