Ocean's Thirteen (2007) - Soderbergh lays the deck with pizazz

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The 12 male stars (the one female is missing...) stand around a crap game table on this poster for Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Thirteen

Reuben Tishkoff gets pushed out of service by the town's new unsympathetic major casino owner, and so Danny Ocean calls his team of experts together to serve revenge.

 

Ocean's Thirteen is written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien (Rounders (1998), both) and directed and photographed by Georgian master filmmaker Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)), whose 17th feature it is. It is also the final film in Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy.

After the dubious plotting and convoluted elements of Ocean's Twelve (2004), it is a great pleasure to see and feel the slick machine of the first film return to form here in a film that's as strong as Ocean's Eleven (2001).

Al Pacino (Insomnia (2002)) is delightful as the dirty villain, who simply lacks George Clooney's (One Fine Day (1996)) gentlemanly skills as Danny Ocean. The story is simple yet again, and it is the serving rather than the plot that makes this firebrand entertainment: It is intelligent, funny and delicious to look at and listen to. The great drums of show business roll loud here; Hollywood is in its ace.

Ocean's Thirteen is packing fun supporting roles and cameos, gadgets and a tight story. - And Oprah!

 

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Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 85 mil. $

Box office: 311.3 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.66 times its cost)

[Ocean's Thirteen premiered 24 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 122 minutes. Clooney was paid 15 mil. $ for his performance in the film; the over-all budget was lowered from the preceding film's 110 mil. $ to 85 mil. $, the same budget as for the first film in the trilogy in 2001. Shooting took place from July - December 2006 in London, England, Las Vegas, Nevada and in California. The film opened #1 to a 36.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#4), grossing 117.1 mil. $ (37.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 27.3 mil. $ (8.8 %) and the UK with 26.4 mil. $ (8.5 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Soderbergh returned with Che: Part One (2008). Clooney returned in Michael Clayton (2007); Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007); Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and Pacino in Righteous Kill (2008). Ocean's Thirteen is fresh at 70 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ocean's Thirteen?

Solitary Man (2009) - Forgettable, undistinguished NY egotist dramedy

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Silver fox Michael Douglas takes center stage with a good handful of supporting stars floating around him on this poster for Brian Koppelman and David Levien's Solitary Man

A swindling, irresponsible, aging womanizer with extremely cold and harsh surroundings winds up a waiter at his only real friend's place, and refuses to end his life's course of running solo.

Solitary Man is written by writer-director Brian Koppelman (Runaway Jury (2003)), who co-directed with David Levien (Knockaraound Guys (2001)).
Michael Douglas (Coma (1978)) stars as the egotistical protagonist in this overly talky drama, which lacks some humor and/or characters that stir up some sympathy.
The film has a strong cast, and there's something weighty in its theme. I just personally enjoyed pals Douglas and co-star Danny DeVito (Wise Guys (1986)) more in their low-brow romantic family adventures of the 1980s, Romancing the Stone (1984) and Jewel of the Nile (1985).

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Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 5.6 mil. $
= Mega-flop (returned 0.37 times its cost)
[Solitary Man premiered in September (Toronto International Film Festival, Canada) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in New York from November - December 2008. The film opened #34 to a 94k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #14 and in 177 theaters (different weeks), grossing 4.3 mil. $ (76.8 % of the the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Brazil with 393k $ (7 %) and Argentina with 227k $ (4 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 3½/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. Koppelman and Levien have both stayed from directing since, returning to writing and producing. Douglas returned in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010). Solitary Man is certified fresh at 79 % with a 6.82/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Solitary Man?