4 out of 5

Director: Steve Soderbergh

While Soderbergh jumps between more experimental and more commercial films, the Ocean’s series is a confirmation of the polish the director can bring to any effort.  LOTR may have kicked off a habit of handling trios of films by a shared team, but Ocean’s 11-13 weren’t guaranteed sequels, and were written by different crews, the second script being worked into something that would match the vibe.  So scripters Brian Koppelman and David Levien were new to this world, but nothing misses a beat, thanks in part to their familiarity with both the glitz of Vegas – from their show Tilt – and the slick world of the con – having worked with Matt Damon on Rounders.  And the commentary with the duo plus Soderbergh drives home the camaraderie that must’ve just synched this project perfectly.  In a nice full circle, the Ocean’s group comes back to the setting from film 1 – a casino on the strip – but this time it’s not a direct cash grab, but more a desire to humiliate Willy Bank, played with perfectly understated scummy bravado by Pacino – a hotel/casino owner who did a member of the group wrong by cutting him viciously out of a deal on a new construction.  So when Willy’s new joint is having a soft opening, Danny and crew plot to make it… not go that well.  Taking a note from 12, where part of the hitch is in not revealing the group’s full plans, O13 is a funny, smart ride that stays focused (a lot of the extra characters were purposefully shed to stick to the original 11) and fair – everyone gets their just desserts in the film, and there’s the satisfaction of seeing these characters actually grow within the context of the world.  As usual, Steve as Peter Andrews lenses this thing so gorgeously, and he goes to great lengths to give most shots a sense of depth.  This isn’t any one actor’s show.  The whole thing does go a bit too far at the end with the “we planned it all!” twists, but it doesn’t require the rewatch of 12 to set your expectations straight for a viewing – this is massively entertaining film-making from start to finish.