We suspect that nobody really watches the Ocean movies for their plots. Instead, moviegoers watch them for the super-cool actors in the super-cool clothes strutting down the streets and casino aisles of Vegas, looking like they own the world. (And in the case of George Clooney and Brad Pitt, they certainly have a substantial share…)
When Ocean's Eleven premiered six years ago, it was supposed to be nostalgic tribute to the so-called Rat Pack of the 1950s and 1960s. The Rat Pack was a group of famous male entertainers like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis who hung out together, drank, gambled, womanized and generally did everything that straight men apparently dream of doing.
Of course, we gay men don't know much about straight men's dreams. But we do know the clothes. Oh the cloooothes - the fitted suits, the swanky accessories, the immaculate shades. Every thread on those men's bodies were to die so - more so than the men themselves. The fitting for Brad Pitt alone reportedly took several hours every day. And because of the spectacular clothes, we'll keep watching.
Ocean's Thirteen sees the return of George Clooney and Brad Pitt as two classy conmen who gather eleven of their friends to pull off yet another complicated heist. Their target this time is a billionaire (Al Pacino as a Donald Trump-like character) whose high-rise Vegas casino is raking in big bucks. But he double-crossed one of George and Brad's gay pal (Elliott Gould) so our gorgeous dudes just have to get back at him…
Like the first two films, Ocean's Thirteen is simply a guilty pleasure. Watching the biggest male actors in Hollywood trade barbs and witticisms, while dressed to the nines in luxurious menswear, is an exercise in fantasy fulfillment. Those of us who've always hankered after the good life will be delighted by the display of lifestyle must-haves. Those of us who don't might just find our minds changing just a little bit after seeing the movie.