The Ocean movies are interesting in the manner they are made by Steve Soderbergh, who seems to crank out one of these sure-fire money makers intermittently so that he can go on to fund an independent project soon thereafter.  Indeed, these Ocean movies provide him opportunities to take a chance on making films like "Solaris" or "The Good German," projects that don't necessarily gross a  lot of revenue but provide him with creative satisfaction that every good director seeks.  With "Ocean's Thirteen," it's more of the same, including the addition of another big name to the roster in Al Pacino.

 

Honestly speaking, I don't recall the specifics in the music from the previous two films in the series, so I approached the score by David Holmes with fresh ears.  Of course I had an idea about the direction the music would go in, so I wasn't surprised to hear the styles that emerged in Holmes' work.

 

The score is very cool, in the breezy, hip sense of the 60s or 70s.  From the first few minutes, it was evident that Holmes has embraced this modern caper genre with a sound of the past.  If modern digital recording technology existed 20 years ago, I believe this is the type of music you'd hear for a film like this.  There definitely is a hip factor attached to a soundscape like this.

 

One of the things that surprised me about this soundtrack is how limited the amount of song tracks were on it.   In fact, there are only 2 songs on the album (out of 20 tracks) and the rest of it is Holmes' work.  This provided a nice opportunity for him to experiment with instruments and different beats, for the lack of a better word.  There is also a type of funk in some of the measures that are heard, specifically in the opening track where you can easily envision Ocean and his cohorts walking about to the tempo of the music.  Holmes delivers smoothness in his music almost effortlessly, I noticed.

 

A particular drawback to the outcome of this score is that by the time I had reached the latter tracks, I had grown tired of the same musical style that's presented.  I almost feel that adding in an additional song track or two might have provided enough of a diversion that would have kept the music feeling fresh.  Alas, about 20 minutes is all I could enjoy without feeling the need to take a break.  While this is no problem at all during the film, since the entire, literal soundtrack of the movie doesn't feature music throughout, the best way to hear this one out on disc is by taking a break from it.

 

The score concludes with tunes by Frank Sinatra and Soul Town, both of which do fit in nicely with the established content.  It's a smart way to conclude the score presentation, though again, I could have used their help earlier in the score to break it up a bit.

 

In the end, it's impossible to say that this is a poor score.  It's perfect for the film, energetically executed and it's also easily identifiable.  If I were grading this on effectiveness, I would give this an A+ grade easily. However, I have to assess it based on my honest opinion of how I enjoyed it, thus, I recommend this only to fans who enjoy this specific genre or for listeners who seek a change of pace.