he gang is back (minus Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones) in the second sequel to Steven Soderbergh's frothy 2001 heist caper. Like its predecessors, Ocean's Thirteen is smart and sexy, trading as much on the likeability of the impeccably tailored stars as the preposterousness of the plot.

This is another masterclass in style over substance, studded with expertly orchestrated action and comic set pieces. Screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who are new to the franchise, demonstrate a lightness of touch, explaining the convoluted storyline (usually in character dialogue) to ensure we keep up with Danny and his ridiculous scheme. There are several pleasing twists along the way, but most of the enjoyment comes from the rapport between the actors, and our affection for the gang as it pickpockets victory from the jaws of defeat.

Ruthless casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) joins forces with security expert Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) to build his new Las Vegas casino, with the promise of a partnership once the job is complete. But Willy double-crosses Reuben, who has invested all of his ill-gotten gains in the enterprise.

"You're dead weight," sneers Willy. "You think I'm going to carry and pay you at the same time?" Reuben suffers a heart attack and is taken to hospital, where Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and the team - including card shark Rusty (Brad Pitt), master pickpocket Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) and explosives expert Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) - rush to Reuben's bedside. The team vows revenge and targets the grand opening of Bank's new casino.

The plan is simple: to ensure that on its first night of business, the casino suffers the biggest losses in Las Vegas history. All that stands between them and success is an artificial intelligence security system and Bank's sexy right-hand woman, Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin). Thankfully, Danny has enlisted the services of electronics genius Roman Nagel (Eddie Izzard) and rival casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who has purely selfish reasons for offering assistance: "That monstrosity Bank calls a hotel casts a shadow over my pool."

Ocean's Thirteen is a highly enjoyable romp which has its tongue planted firmly in cheek. The film looks splendid - the leads changing their sharp attire with dizzying frequency - apart from one awful shot with Danny, Rusty and Roman mulling over the plan as they eat, and you can clearly see the camera and crew reflected in the kitchen window. Banter between Clooney and Pitt is littered with laughs, including a hysterical running gag about Oprah Winfrey.

Damon flexes his comedic muscles and Pacino chews hungrily on the scenery as the villain of the piece, sealing his downfall when he boasts: "I don't lose. People who bet on me to lose, lose."

Izzard brings dry humour to his scenes, observing that Danny and Rusty "are the Morecambe and Wise of the thievery world!"

Lofty praise indeed.

Derived from German, the word doppelgänger is commonly used to describe a person's double, an evil reflection whose manifestation is often seen as an omen of impending death. In John Boorman's serpentine thriller The Tiger's Tail, a Dublin businessman encounters what he believes is his doppelgänger and quickly loses his grasp on reality as friends and family refuse to accept that he is being stalked by a malevolent twin. It's a simple dramatic concept and writer-director Boorman (Deliverance, The General) manages to spin it for a good hour. Unfortunately, The Tiger's Tail runs out of steam well before the curiously upbeat and neat finale that suggests even the darkest storm cloud has a silver lining.

Successful businessman Liam O'Leary (Brendan Gleeson) runs a property development company at the beating heart of Dublin's regeneration. He has a spirited wife, Jane (Kim Cattrall), and a rebellious 16-year-old son, Connor (Briain Gleeson), who devours books on Lenin and lambasts the world of profit inhabited by his father.

"Capitalism is going down the toilet," proclaims Connor. "Capitalism got you your PlayStation, your Gameboy, you iPod,..." Liam reminds his son.

In the midst of negotiations to build a new national stadium, Liam is dumbfounded when he comes face to face with his exact double (Gleeson again). At first, Liam thinks he is going insane, relying on the counsel of good friend Father Andy (Ciaran Hinds) and his sister Oona (Sinead Cusack) to prevent him sliding into madness. But as the doppelgänger gradually takes over Liam's life, even infiltrating the O'Leary family home, he teeters on the brink of breakdown.

"There's someone out there, trying to take over my life!" he rails, as the men in white suits come to take him away.

Meanwhile, back in the bedroom, Jane is delighted by her newly invigorated husband (actually the double).

"Are we falling in love all over again?" she coos. "Feels like the first time," he replies.

Unfolding like a twisted modern-day version of The Prince and the Pauper, The Tiger's Tail stretches credibility to breaking point to engineer Liam's descent from corporate high-flyer to medicated lunatic. Gleeson plays the dual roles with subtle nuances so we can always tell the two characters apart. Most of the twists are played for laughs, and the scenes between Jane and the two men transform the sympathetic neglected wife into an ice queen. The script makes a half-hearted attempt to address the issue of the widening social divide in modern Ireland, the chasm between the haves (Liam and family) and have-nots (the youngsters in Father Andy's care). But any anger that Boorman harbours towards the political establishment is dampened by the soapy revelations of the final 20 minutes.