Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Luketic
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Spacey, Liza Lapira, Josh Gad, Aaron Yoo, Sam Golzari
RunTime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Released By: Columbia TriStar
Rating: PG (Brief Nudity)
Official Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/21/

Soundtrack: REVIEW OF "21" MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK

Opening Day: 26 June 2008

Synopsis:

Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a shy, brilliant M.I.T. student who – needing to pay school tuition – finds the answers in the cards. He is recruited to join a group of the school's most gifted students that heads to Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack in their favor. With unorthodox math professor and stats genius Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) leading the way, they've cracked the code. By counting cards and employing an intricate system of signals, the team can beat the casinos big time. Seduced by the money, the Vegas lifestyle, and by his smart and sexy teammate, Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), Ben begins to push the limits. Though counting cards isn't illegal, the stakes are high, and the challenge becomes not only keeping the numbers straight, but staying one step ahead of the casinos' menacing enforcer: Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne).

Movie Review:

“Do not expect to learn anything about the real story - you’ll be infinitely more excited watching a documentary or a well written article about card-counting. 21 makes a mockery of the sheer ingenuity of execution of the true story. 21 makes it all seem a joke, that card-counting was simply about a bunch of smart kids deciding to be cool, live the high life and roll in the chips on a whim.”

21 is a film about MIT blackjack card-counting extraordinaires written, directed and portrayed with the maturity of the pretentious, annoying, rich kid bawler at the playground. The REAL history of card counting, Las Vegas casinos and MIT is one of intriguing thrills and wonderment at triumph of intellectual, mathematical rigor over an age-old business with a bad rep winning unfairly. 21 however, fails to understand the underlying complexity and marvel of the card-counting phenomenon and takes the Hollywood road of a “glam-med up”, simplified version that simply tries to ooze style. This worked for Ocean’s Eleven, because the audience knew the premise was a star-studded, madcap big-money thriller. 21 however is staked on a real life story where the amazement lies not in how amazing the story is, but because it was all achieved in the very, real world of colleges, students and casinos in one crazy mix. Take away the reality of it and the story, truly, crumbles.

Kevin Spacey plays Micky Rosa, an MIT professor who gathers the best brains from his classes to learn card counting, a technique where players learn when to bet big via counting the probability of winning cards turning up by remembering the spent cards already put into play. Ben Campbell, (played by Jim Sturgess) the main character of the movie, is one such brilliant student that gets embroiled into the scheme not because of the love of money, but because of the need to pay his fees and for the love of a girl, who happens to be on the team. Ben struggles between two personas, one his original, geek guy in a robotics competition with his best friends, the other, a wannabe Las Vegas gambler out to raid casinos all over.

Micky Rosa swaggers around MIT with such haughtiness and authority you would have thought MIT was a two bit rural college run by a self-serving, authoritarian Professor. He threatens Ben at his own whim and fancy, running the team like card counting was the right thing and even passes and fails Ben at his papers with a snap of his fingers (MIT!). Ben gets entangled with an ultra bimbo Jill Taylor, played by Kate Bosworth whose only purpose was to frown through the movie – and perhaps strip for the sensual factor. At the beginning, Kate persuades Ben to join the team, telling him the “thrill of it”. Later, the very temptress admonishes Ben for losing focus and, in a crazy card counting attempt, abandons Ben when security came hunting. Ben is all beat up, yet goes to find her (his misguided love), only to be admonished again along the lines of “you were bundled up in a sack and disappeared for three weeks”, upon which Ben apologises profusely. What? The characterization work was abysmal and shocking, but pure screen writing absurdity takes the cake in 21.

Director Robert Luketic doesn’t understand the lure and appeal of the card counting phenomenon triggered fuelled by the real MIT team and by the book Bringing Down the House. Watching a bunch of posturing, hand sign signaling college students swaggering down casino aisles in slow mo raises goosebumps and irks real bad. If watching a world where the only casino security is Laurence Fishburne charging through casinos and catching card counters with gunny sacks is believable, where a Professor runs one of the top universities in the world like his personal fiefdom is believable for a “based on a true story” movie, then 21 is for you.

Even then, the lack of maturity and absolute empty headedness of the main characters beggars belief. Las Vegas wasn’t believable, MIT wasn’t believable, and these young adults weren’t even believable. 21 is trashy to the maximum and feels like it was directed, written and produced by people who didn’t know Las Vegas, didn’t know MIT, didn’t know the geek and intellectual culture that spawned the geek-cool card-counting phenomenon. 21 is Hollywood trying to pretend they actually could make it to university.

Do not expect to learn anything about the real story - you’ll be infinitely more excited watching a documentary or a well written article about card-counting. 21 makes a mockery of the sheer ingenuity of execution of the true story. 21 makes it all seem a joke, that card-counting was simply about a bunch of smart kids deciding to be cool, live the high life and roll in the chips on a whim. Johnny Chang, a premier member of the real MIT team and whom provided part inspiration for the character of Micky Rosa, muses about how he wasn’t consulted, acknowledged or involved in something so close to him (in a sense, it was literally about him and his friends!).

It shows, and it shows really badly. 21 is unrealistic, absurd and pretentious celluloid rubbish made by Hollywood people who fail to understand source material once again. Jeff Ma, member of the MIT teams and the person whom the character Ben was based upon, plays a cameo in the film and is supposedly involved in the film which took 6 years to plan. Was he carried away by or blinded by the mega-Hollywood influence? We won’t know, but from the accounts of Johnny Chang, not contacting, respecting or crediting much of the real people and story completes the shame of a badly executed movie.

Movie Rating:



(21 is the ultimate losing hand at the table)

Review by Daniel Lim