Ocean’s Thirteen (***1/4)

The best of the summer’s three-quels reunites most of the earlier cast (notably excepting Julia Roberts), adds Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin as a swindle-worthy hotelier and his sidekick, and comes up with a plot that, unlike #2 (Ocean’s 12), allows a sufficient showcase of its ensemble cast’s talents. The setting returns to Las Vegas. Pacino is supposed to have cheated Elliott Gould’s Reuben, perhaps causing the latter’s heart attack. Thus the motive is revenge, not mere greed. All the better to allow you to root for the debonair cast led by George Clooney, with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, et al thrown in for good measure. Soderbergh lays out their plot so well that its execution is nearly anti-climatic.

(reviewed 6/15/07)

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