Ocean's Thirteen

Ocean's Thirteen (also written as Ocean's 13) is a 2007 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh. It is the third installment in the Ocean's franchise, the sequel to Ocean's Twelve (2004), and the final film in the Ocean's Trilogy.[2] All the male cast members reprise their roles from the previous installments, with Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin joining the cast, but neither Julia Roberts nor Catherine Zeta-Jones return.

Ocean's Thirteen
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySteven Soderbergh
Produced byJerry Weintraub
Screenplay by
Based on
Characters
by
Starring
Music byDavid Holmes
CinematographyPeter Andrews
Edited byStephen Mirrione
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • May 24, 2007 (2007-05-24) (Cannes)
  • June 8, 2007 (2007-06-08) (United States)
Running time
122 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$85 million[1]
Box office$311.7 million[1]

Filming began in July 2006 in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, based on a script by Brian Koppelman and David Levien.[3] The film was screened as an Out of Competition presentation at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival,[4] and was released on June 8, 2007 in the United States.[5] The film was well-received and grossed $311 million worldwide.

Plot

Reuben Tishkoff invests in building a hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip; against advice from his friend and erstwhile criminal partner, Danny Ocean, he involves himself with wealthy investor and casino mogul Willy Bank, whose thugs strongarm him into signing over his ownership stake. Tishkoff suffers a heart attack and becomes bedridden. Ocean offers Bank a chance to set things right, given his long history in Las Vegas and the fact that he "shook Sinatra's hand", but Bank refuses and completes construction of the hotel, renamed "The Bank". To avenge Tishkoff, Ocean gathers his partners-in-crime and plans to ruin Bank on the opening night of the hotel.

The crew develops a plan with two objectives: The first is to prevent The Bank from winning the prestigious Five Diamond Award, which all of Bank's previous hotels have won. Saul Bloom will stand in as the anonymous Diamond reviewer, while Ocean and his associates will treat the real reviewer horribly. The second objective is to rig all of the casino's games to pay out millions in winnings; Bank's casino has to make $500 million in order to stay open, otherwise he would have to cede control of the casino to the gaming board. While they can implement various rigging mechanisms into the casino, Danny and his crew know they would be easily stopped by The Greco, a state-of-the-art computer system that monitors the gamblers' biometric responses and predicts when cheating is happening. To disrupt the Greco, they plan to use a magnetron disguised as a new cell phone as a gift to Bank. They also obtain the drilling machine used to bore the Channel Tunnel to simulate an earthquake under the casino, ensuring that Bank will implement safety protocols to evacuate the premises. Their plan on opening night is to have Bank inadvertently disrupt Greco by using his new phone, initiate their rigged machines and dealers on their payroll, and then simulate the earthquake to force the evacuation and have players leave with their winnings.

Shortly before opening night, the drill breaks down. The team is forced to ask Terry Benedict, whom Danny has slighted in the past, for funds to buy a replacement. Benedict, who also seeks retribution against Bank, offers the funds for a portion of his share of the take and demands that Ocean also steal Banks' private diamond collection in celebration of his Five Diamond Awards. The jewels are valued at over $250 million and secured in a case at the top of the casino. Ocean has Linus Caldwell get romantically close to Bank's assistant, Abigail Sponder, to gain access to the case. Secretly, Benedict contracts master thief François "The Night Fox" Toulour to intercept the diamonds.

On opening night, Ocean institutes the final part of the plan by having FBI agents on his payroll arrive at the hotel and arrest Livingston Dell on suspicion of rigging the card-shuffling machines, allowing them to be replaced with actual rigged ones. Another FBI agent arrests Linus for switching the diamonds with fakes. The agent takes Linus away but reveals himself to be his father, Robert Caldwell, also in on Ocean's plan. They try to evacuate from the roof but are intercepted by Toulour, who takes the diamonds and parachutes off the roof. However, Ocean anticipated this, and never had Linus make the switch. Linus and his father escape in a helicopter piloted by Basher, tearing the case from the roof and taking the diamonds with them.

The remainder of Ocean's plan goes as expected; as they trigger the earthquake, the players evacuate with millions of dollars of winnings. Ocean approaches a devastated Bank and tells him that he did everything and that it was for Reuben. Ocean also reminds Bank that he cannot get revenge, since Danny knows all of Bank's associates and they prefer him over Bank, and that he cannot go to the police due to Bank's illegal activities. With their share of the winnings, Ocean's crew buy property on the Strip for Reuben to build his own casino. Ocean donates Benedict's $72 million portion of the take to charity in Benedict's name, forcing him to admit his philanthropy on broadcast television. As Ocean, Rusty, and Linus prepare to depart from the airport, Rusty rigs one of the slot machines there to allow the real Diamond reviewer to win $11 million as compensation for how they treated him.

Cast

Production

In January 2006, it was reported that producers were in discussions about setting and shooting most of the film at the Wynn Las Vegas. Clooney had previously hoped to film it at his then-upcoming Las Ramblas Resort in Las Vegas, although the project would not have been ready in time for production.[6] In March 2006, it was reported that the film would be shot in a fake casino that would be constructed on five Warner Bros. sound stages.[7] Filming was expected to begin in Las Vegas and Los Angeles in July 2006.[3] Al Pacino joined the cast in April 2006.[8]

Location scouting took place in Las Vegas in mid-July 2006, with the Bellagio confirmed as a filming location, which was also used for scenes in Ocean's Eleven.[9] Filming in Las Vegas began on August 7, 2006,[10] with scenes shot at McCarran International Airport and at a heliport.[11] The following day, filming moved to the Palazzo resort, which was under construction at the time.[12] Filming in Las Vegas concluded on August 9, 2006, after scenes involving Clooney, Pitt, Damon, and García were shot in an office at the back of the Bellagio. At that time, Clooney and producer Jerry Weintraub were considering premiering the film in Las Vegas.[12] Another Las Vegas shoot was scheduled for September 2006,[13] including additional filming at the Bellagio.[12]

Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones did not appear in their respective roles as Tess Ocean and Isabel Lahiri, due to the actresses not wanting to participate in the movie without a significant part in the plot, which the script could not accommodate. This is referenced early in the movie when Ocean mentions it's 'not their fight' when questioned as to their absence by others in the group.[14] Topher Grace, who cameoed in the previous two films as a heavily fictionalized version of himself, was unable to return due to reshoots on Spider-Man 3: he recalls that his planned cameo would have involved him having a conversation with Rusty while holding an Asian baby and never addressing where the baby came from.[15]

Reception

Box office

The film did well on its first weekend, reaching the top spot at the North American box office. Despite opening in 250 more theaters than Ocean's Twelve, it had a slightly weaker opening weekend, than the former, pulling in $36 million, compared with Twelve's $39 million.[16][17] By the end of December 2007, Ocean's Thirteen had generated $117.2 million in box office domestically, and $311.4 million worldwide.[18]

Critical reception

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 70% based on 199 reviews, and an average rating of 6.38/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Ocean's Thirteen reverts to the formula of the first installment, and the result is another slick and entertaining heist film."[19] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[20] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

In his review for New York, David Edelstein wrote, "As the plotting gets knottier, [Soderbergh]'s technique gets more fluid—the editing jazzier, the colors more luscious, the whip-pans more whizbang. It's all anchored by Clooney, looking impudent, roguish, almost laughably handsome."[21] Manohla Dargis, in her review for The New York Times, wrote, "Playing inside the box and out, [Soderbergh] has learned to go against the grain while also going with the flow. In Ocean's Thirteen he proves that in spades by using color like Kandinsky and hanging a funny mustache on Mr. Clooney's luscious mug, having become a genius of the system he so often resists."[22]

In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, writing "Ocean's Thirteen proceeds with insouciant dialogue, studied casualness, and a lotta stuff happening, none of which I cared much about because the movie doesn't pause to develop the characters, who are forced to make do with their movie-star personas."[23] Peter Bradshaw, in his review for The Guardian, wrote, "Sometimes we go to split-screen, and sometimes — whooaaa! — two of the split-screen frames are funkily showing the same thing. It is all quite meaningless. As if in an experimental novel by B. S. Johnson, the scenes could be reshuffled and shown in any order and it would amount to the same thing. There is no human motivation and no romance."[24]

Home video release

Ocean's Thirteen was released on DVD and Blu-ray in November 2007.[25]

Spin-off
Main article: Ocean's 8

Ocean's 8, a spin-off of the Ocean's Trilogy films, was directed by Gary Ross and released in 2018. Sandra Bullock starred as Debbie Ocean, Danny Ocean's sister, opposite Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna Fenty, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, and Nora "Awkwafina" Lum, as a team who took part in a heist at the Met Gala.

References
  1. "Ocean's Thirteen (2007) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  2. ""Ocean's 13" Definitely The Last?". Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
  3. "Ocean's 13 to Start on July 21". ComingSoon.net. March 27, 2006. Archived from the original on March 30, 2006.
  4. "Festival de Cannes: Ocean's Thirteen". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
  5. "Movie Insider: Ocean's Thirteen (2007)". Retrieved July 14, 2006.
  6. Clarke, Norm (January 22, 2006). "Sequel might be filmed at Wynn". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on January 26, 2006.
  7. Clarke, Norm (March 28, 2006). "'Ocean's' gang ready for reunion". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on April 5, 2006.
  8. Clarke, Norm (April 30, 2006). "Celine Dion deals with ear trouble". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on May 18, 2006.
  9. Clarke, Norm (July 21, 2006). "'Ocean's 13' crew scouts locations". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on November 1, 2007.
  10. Clarke, Norm (August 4, 2006). "Shop owner tells tale of two roomies". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008.
  11. Clarke, Norm (August 8, 2006). "Teen singer pulls vanishing act". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on August 21, 2006.
  12. Clarke, Norm (August 10, 2006). "New 'Ocean' might premiere in Vegas". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on August 22, 2006.
  13. Clarke, Norm (August 6, 2006). "Keep lookout for 'Ocean's' crowd". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008.
  14. "Clooney Dives Into 'Ocean's 13'". CBS News. March 28, 2006.
  15. Raup, Jordan. "Topher Grace on Portraying the Racism of Today in 'BlacKkKlansman,' Spike Lee's Brilliance, and the 'Ocean's Thirteen' Cameo He Couldn't Shoot". The Film Stage. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  16. ""Ocean's Thirteen" steals No. 1 spot at box office". Reuters. June 10, 2007. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  17. Douglas, Edward (June 10, 2007). "The Summer Box Office Gets All Wet". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  18. "Ocean's Thirteen (2007) - Box Office Mojo". Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  19. "Ocean's Thirteen". Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  20. "Ocean's Thirteen Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  21. Edelstein, David (June 3, 2007). "What Happens in Vegas…". New York. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  22. Dargis, Manohla (June 8, 2007). "They Always Come Out Ahead; Bet on It". The New York Times. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  23. Ebert, Roger (June 7, 2007). "Ocean's Thirteen". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  24. Bradshaw, Peter (June 8, 2007). "Ocean's Thirteen". The Guardian. London. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  25. "Ocean's Thirteen (2007) DVD details".
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