Ocean's 13 OST - Review
Review by Jack Foley
DAVID Holmes’s soundtracks fit Steven Soderbergh’s crime capers as comfortably as the designer suits fit the director’s central characters.
Having already provided super-slick scores for Out Of Sight and Ocean’s 11 and 12, he returns again for Ocean’s 13 and pretty much hits the jackpot.
Essentially, it’s the usual blend of funk and swing that’s part influenced by the likes of Morricone and Schifrin, as well as the Rat Pack era that provided the inspiration for Soderbergh’s original movie.
But Holmes is inventive enough not to rest on his laurels and has pulled a neat card trick of his own so that Ocean’s 13 embraces the best elements of both its predecessors, while establishing a sound that’s distinctly its own.
By his own admission, the soundtrack this time sounds as though a band might have been playing constantly. It’s tight and modern yet with some swing to it.
And it draws its influences from a much wider spectrum, including the old library music of the ’60s and ’70s, a lot of French music, a lot of composers, Serge Gainsbourg, Roland Vincent and tonnes and tonnes of stuff that Holmes listens to.
The result is slick, snappy and downright cool – a soundtrack to suit the light mood of the movie, that moves at a crackling pace and which reflects the cleverness, the nostalgia and the sheer coolness on show.
Standout tracks include opening effort Not Their Fight, which should have your feet shuffling and head nodding in knowing appreciation, Benedict Returns, a smooth operator that reflects the Andy Garcia character, and the snappy bass and giddy bongo routine of Laptops.
But keep an ear out, too, for Diamond Location (more bongos and a definite ’70s shuffle), Fender Roads and the feelgood rush that marks All Sewn Up.
Sinatra himself crops up to deliver the extremely classy This Town and there’s a welcome revival of the Claire De Lune suite that was also used on Ocean’s 11.
In short, Holmes has triumphed again and fans of any of his previous soundtrack work with Soderbergh should cash in.
Download picks: Not Their Fight, This Town, Benedict Returns, All Sewn Up, Laptops, Diamond Location
Track listing:
#. All Sewn Up