By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
``The sweetest honey is loathsome in its own deliciousness, and the taste confounds the appetite'' and Shakespeare's claim doth holdeth true for ``Ocean's 13.'' In the third (and last) of Hollywood's larger-than-life heist action series, Al Pacino joins the already gleaming all-star cast. The result? Blinding, yet ironically rather underwhelming for the viewer.
George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Andy Garcia: usually, it would take just one of these megastars' appearance in a film to magnetize the public's attention. But ``Ocean's 11'' (2002), a remake of a classic 1960 film of the same title stood apart for gathering 11 of them together, including Julia Roberts.
The film reaped huge profits for Warner Brothers, and its sequel ``Ocean's 12'' followed suit in 2005 with original cast members and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
In ``Ocean's 13,'' Reuben (Elliott Gould), betrayed by wicked hotel magnate Willie Bank (Al Pacino), falls deathly ill. Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his men stand by their old friend and put their heads together to design the perfect retaliation scheme, with the additional help of former foe Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia).
Their meticulous plan is as follows: first, crush Bank financially, by having his casino lose millions of dollars during a 3.5-minute time frame. Second, bash the mogul's pride, by obstructing his chances of winning the much-coveted Five-Diamond hotel award. Finally, drain the man's joy, by stealing his prized diamond necklace collection.
Like the cast, the action has gotten bigger and methods have become fancier. Ocean and his crew employ a $36 million machine used to drill the Euro Tunnel in order to create an earthquake. They ingeniously crack unbreakable security systems and other nifty gadgets and high-tech tricks entertain viewers. Yen (Shaobo Qin) struts out his gymnastic moves in a suspenseful, speedy elevator action sequence.
But the various scenes are loosely woven together with unnecessary pauses here and there. The fragmented flow fails to engage viewers throughout the entirety of the film.
The film touches upon characters' defining traits but ends up drawing out superficial, one-dimensional character developments, or lack thereof. The film seems to exploit characteristics that hitherto gave life to Ocean and others. Ocean is having problems with his wife as always (when does it ever end?), dorky Linus (Matt Damon) tries harder than ever to prove his masculine charm and escape the shadows of his heist-master father.
Ellen Barkin joins the cast as Bank's uptight assistant, Abigail Sponder. The film tries to throw in some comic elements by showing her fall prey to Linus' surprising sex appeal, but it's grossly overdrawn. It also tries to poke fun by giving the hotel reviewer a miserable time, but the result is third-rate comedy. Oprah makes a cameo appearance, touching the soft spot of the tough guys Ocean and Rusty (Brad Pitt), and even inspires a sniff or two. It's funny but a bit contrived.
For local audiences, it may be a point of interest that a Samsung cellular phone, gold-plated and jewel-encrusted, is one of Al Pacino's most prized possessions.
Though you should not judge a movie by its poster, the poster of ``Ocean's 13'' -- featuring its all-star cast -- is unfortunately the movie's most eye-catching feature. With too many stars clustered together, each becomes a mere sparkle.