'OCEAN'S THIRTEEN' LACKING DEPTH.Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic After a week's worth of original programming relief, Hollywood is back in threequel mode with "Ocean's Thirteen." And like this season's "Spider-Man," "Shrek" and "Pirates of the Caribbean This article is about the franchise. For other, more specific uses, see Pirates of the Caribbean (disambiguation). For real pirates, see Piracy in the Caribbean. Pirates of the Caribbean " entries, this latest foray into Verb 1. foray into - enter someone else's territory and take spoils; "The pirates raided the coastal villages regularly" raid encroach upon, intrude on, obtrude upon, invade - to intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, violate; "This new colleague invades my high-end thievery Thievery See also Gangsterism, Highwaymen, Outlawry. Alfarache, Guzmán de picaresque, peripatetic thief; lived by unscrupulous wits. [Span. Lit. delivers all the basic pleasures its franchise is known for, yet somehow gives less satisfaction than earlier films in the series. Essentially a remake of the first "Ocean's" remake, "Thirteen" finds the original Eleven (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, Carl Reiner, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadle, Eddie Jemison, Bernie Mac and Shaobo Qin) reunited in Vegas to take down another hissable, taste-impaired casino builder, Al Pacino's Willy Bank. Seems Bank took advantage of Reuben Tishkoff (Gould) in a real estate deal, which gave the old swindler SWINDLER, criminal law. A cheat; one guilty of defrauding divers persons. 1 Term Rep. 748; 2 H. Blackst. 531; Stark. on Sland. 135. 2. Swindling is usually applied to a transaction, where the guilty party procures the delivery to him, under a pretended a stroke or something. So, to plot the perfect revenge, Danny Ocean (Clooney) gathers the boys and adds a British superschemer (Eddie Izzard) whose name is Roman, I think, but who could just as well be called Basil Exposition. How many? That's still only 12. I guess No. 13 is supposed to be old nemesis Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who hates the fact that his competitor's glitzy glitz Informal n. Ostentatious showiness; flashiness: "a garish barrage of show-biz glitz" Peter G. Davis. tr.v. new tower casts shadows over his own hotel's pool. My math could be off, though. But then, so could the filmmakers'. Numerous high- and low-tech gadgets, carefully worked-out if impossibly executed scams and a reversal or three later, everything's in place to ruin the grand opening of Bank's ultra-luxurious, super-extra-vulgar Strip hotel -- which is modestly and oh so originally named Bank. The film's plotting is complicated without being too hard to follow (thanks, Basil, or whoever you are). More to the point, it's not worth concerning oneself about. Mixed bag of humor Writers Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who scripted the more serious Damon gambling drama "Rounders round·er n. 1. One that rounds, especially a tool for rounding corners and edges. 2. One, such as a security guard, who makes rounds. 3. A dissolute person. 4. Sports a. ," play about an even-money humor game. Half the jokes are lame, like Ellen Barkin, as Bank's businesslike right-hand woman, getting all discombobulated dis·com·bob·u·late tr.v. dis·com·bob·u·lat·ed, dis·com·bob·u·lat·ing, dis·com·bob·u·lates To throw into a state of confusion. See Synonyms at confuse. by an aphrodisiac aphrodisiac Any of various forms of stimulation thought to arouse sexual excitement. They may be psychophysiological (arousing the senses of sight, touch, smell, or hearing) or internal (e.g., foods, alcoholic drinks, drugs, love potions, medicinal preparations). , or poor David Paymer being the guest the Eleven single out for special torture. But another half is mildly inspired; both the Oprah bit and the Mexican factory story line pay off hilariously. Additionally, the writers find some excuse for working Sumo sumo: see wrestling. sumo Japanese form of wrestling.A contestant loses if he is forced out of the ring (a 15-ft circle) or if any part of his body except the soles of his feet touches the ground. wrestlers and an earthquake into the proceedings. Cool as the overall tone of the piece tries to remain, the sweat of desperation can be detected on stuff like this. Director Steven Soderbergh, as usual, makes sure George, Brad, Matt and the villains are dressed to the nines. He also tosses in some split-screen and double-exposure sequences to remind us that he really is a film artist, dammit dam·mit interj. Used to express anger, irritation, contempt, or disappointment. [Alteration of damn it.] , and not just a guy who makes his money creating gleaming, expensive-looking surfaces all the time. Plenty of eye candy, too That said, the ladies should be delighted by all the well-draped man flesh. Barkin and some nameless arm-candy girls are about all the guys get to ogle o·gle v. o·gled, o·gling, o·gles v.tr. 1. To stare at. 2. To stare at impertinently, flirtatiously, or amorously. v.intr. this time, though. Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones are MIA MIA n. A member of the armed services who is reported missing following a combat mission and whose status as to injury, capture, or death is unknown. [m(issing) i(n) a(ction). this time around. As are, unfortunately, the deeply subversive touches that made "Ocean's Twelve" the self-satirizing critique of these all-star bashes that upset so many people. "Thirteen" goes back to the basics of slick, empty entertainment. And it leaves you feeling amused yet unfulfilled, so I guess all involved should be congratulated for a job well done. Or, depending how you look at it, slapped. Bob Strauss, (818) 713-3670 bob.strauss@dailynews.com OCEAN'S THIRTEEN - Three and one half stars (PG-13: language, mild violence) Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, Ellen Barkin, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner, David Paymer, Eddie Izzard, Vincent Cassel. Director: Steven Soderbergh. Running time: 1 hr. 53 min. Playing: In wide release. In a nutshell: The gang's back in Vegas, doing pretty much what they did in the first movie, only this time to Al Pacino's hateful casino mogul instead of Andy Garcia's. Engagingly unengaging. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: George Clooney as Danny Ocean, Elliott Gould as Reuben Tishkoff and Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell take the latest installment of the "Ocean's" franchise out for a spin in Las Vegas. |
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