Tom's Recommended Film of the Week

Oceans Thirteen

My son is a big fan of the Danny Ocean movies starring George Clooney and directed by Steven Soderbergh. I guess I am too, as I saw the first one in the theater with my wife when it came out, then watched the second one on DVD and now bought the third one for my son for Christmas and watched it with him that very day.

Caper films have always held an interest for me personally. In fact, I have a small collection of books on scams, bunco, and creative frauds, in addition to having greatly enjoyed the Dortmunder novels of Donald Westlake as well as most other highly detailed crime films and books. I may be one of the few people who actually enjoyed both versions of The LadyKillers.

Sooner or later Snatch is bound to make an appearance as one of my recommended films of the week and I may be one of the few people who owns a copy of Welcome to Collinwood. Yes, I just really like the intricacy and humor common to the big caper story. I even liked Woody Allen’s Small Time Crooks! Heists have appeal to me I guess, ever since Goodfellas found Lufthansa.

But back to Oceans Thirteen. If you enjoyed Oceans Eleven and Oceans Twelve, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy Oceans Thirteen. Most of the main characters are back, with the exception of Julia Roberts' Tess, and Al Pacino as Willie Bank is a great addition to the ever-expanding cast. This one moves along at a good pace and offers the same wry sense of humor common to the first two films and Matt Damon's Linus even gets to develop a bit with the audience learning more about his character than ever before.

The fact that the group is all coming together to rally around a fallen comrade heightens the emotion of this most recent rendition, so set aside a few hours and relish one of the best casts in modern film history.