Ocean’s Thirteen

*** - This third and final installment in the Ocean’s series of elaborate crime caper films makes an unwelcome return to the shallow glitz of Las Vegas after a refreshing excursion in Europe in the previous film. While it is probably a better film that the prior movie, I just really dislike Las Vegas and all of its glam and showy superficiality and hedonism. This time around one of the gang members is double-crossed in a hotel/casino deal by Al Pacino and winds up having a heart attack as a result, which inspires the rest of the boys to strike back with an exceedingly complex and hard to follow scheme in which they will avenge their fallen comrade. Giant drills are purchased, people are bribed, hotel rooms are booby trapped, disguises are worn, earthquakes are simulated and everything works out in the end as Pacino is ruined. Part of why I can’t really get too into these movies is that I get the feeling that the viewer is supposed to empathize with Clooney and crew, but they are actually some pretty despicable criminals in reality. I find it difficult to connect with people who are amoral thieves. One minor thing I couldn’t quite grasp is why this movie was called “Ocean’s Thirteen”. I don’t get it. There are actually fewer participants in the heist (I counted ten) than in the two earlier movies. I understand that they need to make it seem like the series is progressing, but then one could wonder what happened to Ocean’s One through Ten.