Ocean's 13 - B

In theatres. Rated PG-13. 122 minutes.

With third-in-the-series Ocean's 13, Clooney and Soderbergh extend an olive branch after the overly-smug killjoy Ocean's 12. Is this one as good as the original? No, but it oozes the same understated cool and gives the audience the illusion of hanging out with some of the chillest cats currently residing in Tinsiltown. Ultimately, that was what made the first one so much fun.

The plot has holes the size of swiss cheese, but it is as follows: Casino-maven Reuben (a returning Elliott Gould) is screwed out of a partnership on the biggest new gambling destination on the strip by Al Pacino's Willie Bank. This leads to a heart attack and subsequent depression for Reuben that appears ready to kill him. Enter Danny and the boys (they all return, with the addition of an under-utilized Eddie Izzard to make 13) to save his life by robbing Bank's blind and forcing him to cut Reuben back into the deal. This time, instead of the usual break-in, they plan on fixing every game simultaneously, betting big, and then walking out with the loot. The lengths they must go to to fix the individual games provide interesting subplots, with the best centering on a dice company in Mexico that the Malloy brothers (A priceless Casey Affleck and Scott Caan) are dispatched to, only to lead a worker's uprising over working conditions.

Pacino is good, if a bit over-the-top as Banks. Carl Reiner, back as Saul, is fabulous as ever. Indeed, the entire gang, from Don Cheadle to Bernic Mac appear to once again be having a great time. Still, this show belongs to Pitt and Clooney and increasingly, as symbolized in a nice closing scene, Matt Damon. The secret of this franchise, just like the Sinatra Original they coolly nod to here, is the combined charisma of these men and the way they bring the audience in, for an hour, on their cool. Pitt and Clooney, a modern day Redford and Newman, have become a great movie duo, effortlessly playing off each other. I can't help but wish they'd couple up on something with a little more substance, but I'm sure the asking price for both of them makes that fairly unlikely. Soderbergh adds some very nice flourishes, leaving me to wish that he'd cut a middle ground between straight commercial stuff like this and Bubble, a la his 1998-2001 run of Out of Sight, The Limey, Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the original Ocean's.

B+ on cool, B- (at least) on plot, overall this is a B.