Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!
If you ever walk through a casino or sit at a blackjack table, you may just want to be hearing those four strange, yet exciting words. It just maybe your lucky night to win at a hand of blackjack.
21 boasts a cast with the likes of Kevin Spacey playing Mickey Rosa, the ex-player turned teacher/mentor. The new up and comer of Jim Sturgess (from Across the Universe fame). The ever so gorgeous Kate Bosworth who brings to life a girl you want to root for in Jill Taylor. And how can you forget the casino security, Cole Williams, played by Morpheus or better known as Laurence Fishburne.
This film delivers!
In 21, a team of card counters from MIT, whose weekend romps to Vegas to make money at blackjack, begins to attract a little attention after a new addition to the team. Surrounded by big money, melodrama, some punch lines and of course the all to flashy lights of Vegas, what more can you ask for in a movie?
The film follows Ben Campbell who goes from being a nobody in Boston, to a somebody in Vegas over night. The high roller story of many a Hollywood story has been sprinkled throughout the film. Ben is a young naive student who needs cash to go to Harvard Med and doesn’t think he will win the once in a lifetime scholarship. With the always beautiful girl in pursuit we are along for the ride in a rags to riches and back to rags story.
Ben is the stereotypical shy, geeky kid with loser friends who happens to be one of the brightest minds in MIT unbeknown to him. In a everyday class at MIT of “Linear something or other”, Mickey Rosa comes face to face with the brilliant mind of Ben. The in class example of a game show was given of the host asking which of the three doors has the new car behind it. Ben promptly picks door number 1, as Mickey points to the chalk board and pulls down door number three to show nothing, Campbell’s mind kicks into high gear. Rosa takes notice visibly and the movie takes shape.
This classroom encounter eventually leads to a late night invite to a room in the back halls of MIT. Once in the room Ben is met with a familiar face in Mickey and Jill Taylor (the girl who is just out of reach of his secret crush) along with a few fresh faces. They are sitting at a mock blackjack table learning the simple math behind counting cards. The conversation ensues and Ben leaves with a fear of whats to come.
We are led through a myriad of scenes where Ben accepts, earns and then is tested in his new found skill of counting cards. All leading up to his first visit to Vegas. And what a trip it was.
The Cinematography was excellent in this film. The film captures the energy and excitement of Vegas all the while bringing us back to the snowy campus of MIT in Boston to ruin the fun. The lights and action are captured well in the faces of the actors along with a great soundtrack to lead us from place to place.
The writing team of Peter Steinfield and Allan Loeb have brought the adaptation of Ben Mezrich’s top selling book “Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions” to the big screen. And they have done a pretty solid job.
On the whole, the film is a crowd pleaser with a great cast, solid performances and believable characters. My only complaint was the length of the film. It was just under two hours and seemed to drag towards the end. The ups and downs of the film really made for slow transitions towards the end leading up to the climax.
I would recommend this film to friends without a doubt.
Rating: 
I actually thought it was a fair movie that never knew what kind of movie it wanted to be. Yeah it was based on the novel which was based on real life facts. But the way the story played out on screen made me want to scratch my head and figure out what the director was aiming for. Was it a Teen College flick? Seemed that way with Ben and his friends at the gym and at the bar. Was it a heist flick? Seemed that way with all the money they were winning at the various hotels. Was it a buddy picture? Seemed that way with Lawarence Fishburn’s character and his assistant. Was it a drama? Seemed that way with Ben’s delema of getting enough money to go to Harvard Medical. All in all they never gave us a clear enough picture to figure out what was the main goal of the story telling.
Now for the movie. The acting was mediocre. Spacey and Bosworth were the only two that knew how to act. The rest were just wooden and plain or playing sterotype characters that were easy to play. The subplot of Mickey’s past and how it connected to Cole’s past seemed forced, almost as if it was an afterthought and a way to connect the two characters.
I will say the Las Vegas scenes did capture the “fast-time high-rolling flavor of the city that never sleeps cause it’s hopped up on caffine pills and beer all the time” vibe to it. Anything outside of Vegas, to me, was a Lifetime movie of the week.
Bottom line…rent it on DVD or wait till TNT airs it one weekend. I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.
-Plus 1
This film was mediocre at best. the person above me said it best. It is a great story, but doesn’t know what it wants to be as a movie.