I often think the only good thing about this grainy-yet-glossy-landscaped view of gorgeous hunky guys as cool as popsicles in their Ricco Suave element, is just kicking back and enjoying the show, because beyond that – and beyond a brilliant script – there really isn’t much of a story that matters. Or perhaps that’s all that matters… Rusty (Brad Pitt) is in the middle of a heist when he gets to call from Danny Ocean (George Clooney) that their friend Ruben (Elliot Gould) has taken ill. Within moments there’s a bedside vigil of their mentor and the boys – Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner, Bernie Mac, etc. want revenge on Willie Banks (Al Pacino) the man who put Ruben in his stupor. That’s because Banks screwed him out of a major casino deal, and those things just don’t happen to the only two guys left ‘who shook Sinatra’s hand.” To even out the score there is always the quintessential woman – in this case Pacino’s right hand business woman (Ellen Barkin) who plays the ultimate cougar (just get her alone in the room that houses the diamonds and has Matt Damon on the couch.) But when one of Danny Ocean’s tricks go wrong, he is forced to team with his past nemesis (Andy Garcia) who takes a backseat in the movie mainly shouting commands from a TV screen that include not only doubling his profits, but oh, yeah, stealing all of the diamonds – thirty-five carat each. Tiffany’s. The bottom line of this final installment of “Oceans” is that it’s smarter than the last one and tougher to follow, but it’s got one really thought out plot, even if you can’t figure out what the hell is going on. THREE AND A HALF TIARAS
