Third installment fails to deliver

Here is a film that falls miserably short of the mark on all counts. If one were to take a look at the stellar cast, it reads more like a Hollywood A list than anything else. Heavyweight actors in George Clooney; Elliot Gould; Brad Pitt; Andy Garcia; Al Pacino; Matt Damon; Don Cheadle and Bernie Mac grace the screen. With such an impressive cast it comes as quite a shock the both the plot and the acting is severely handicapped.

Following a rather shady business deal, Reuben Tishkoff (Gould) is forced to sign away his share of sizable hotel assets to casino magnate Willie Bank (Pacino). Bank is the quintessential Las Vegas tycoon, replete with a huge ego and title deeds to most of sin city’s top resorts. Reuben can’t take the pressure of having been duped, so he suffers a massive heart attack.

Naturally Billy Ocean and his crew are eager to help the old man out. They put together an intricate plan to exact their revenge and meter out swindler’s justice. It’s a formidable task, given the hi-tech security at Bank’s new establishment. The target date is set for opening night. That’s make it or break it time before the official opening launch. Ocean and his crew members hatch a plan to get the upper hand over the smarmy Willie Bank. It’s not as easy as it looks and they have to enlist the help of Terry Benedict, owner of the Bellagio.

As the story unfolds, it drowns the audience in loads of techno jargon and other highfalutin geek speak. It’s an improbable scenario and there are certainly gaping holes in the screenplay. As regards the pedigree of actors in the cast, one feels that a better job could have been done. It is perhaps an overrated film which has ridden on the wave of the hugely successful Ocean’s 11.

If it’s mundane amusement you’re after, Ocean’s 13 might just do the trick.