Based on Ben Mezrich’s New York Times bestseller “Bringing Down the House: The True Story of six M.I.T. Kids Who Took Vegas for Millions”, 21 stars Academy® Award winner KEVIN SPACEY, KATE BOSWORTH (Superman Returns), hot British actor JIM STURGESS (Across the Universe, The Other Boleyn Girl) and Academy® Award nominee LAURENCE FISHBURNE (The Matrix). Directed by ROBERT LUKETIC (Legally Blonde, Monster-in-Law) and produced by DANA BRUNETTI (American Beauty), MICHAEL DE LUCA (American History X), and KEVIN SPACEY (American Beauty), 21 is a thrilling ride into the world of gambling and the consequences of greed.Ben Campbell (Sturgess) is a shy but brilliant M.I.T. student who finds his way to pay for his schooling through playing cards. Ben is recruited to join a group of super intelligent students lead by professor Micky Rosa (Spacey) who travel to Vegas each weekend to take on the casinos at Blackjack with their knowledge of beating the odds. Having figured out an intricate system of signals the team start seeing the money roll in. Ben finds himself getting drawn deeper and deeper into the high flying lifestyle, the money and falls for the charms of his sexy teammate, Jill Taylor (Bosworth). With so much money at stake the real challenge becomes staying one step ahead of the casinos before they rumble the scam.
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"the look of the film is fabulous, well worth consideration for art direction"
Considering the risky pleasure generally associated with gambling and the seductive thrill of watching a heist or scam unfold, it should come as no surprise that 21, a film which combines the two aforementioned premises should excel at being enjoyable. And while the film may be very familiar ground to anyone with in any experience with Ocean's Eleven style crime capers, and the majority of the film's plot points verge on being almost laughably predictable, it is executed with enough exuberant flair to make it worthwhile in the midst of its formula.
The look of the film is fabulous, well worth consideration for art direction. It's all about Vegas, but not over the top, somehow. You never blame the character for falling into the trap, because it is all so addictive: the cash, the clothes, the fabulous rooms (it's almost worth seeing the film just to see those penthouse suites!). The editing and camera work is almost flawless. They did an especially good job zooming way in on the cards, to where they almost become characters in the story. Even if you know nothing about the game (and I know very little), it won't impair your enjoyment of the film. Jim Sturgess is a very promising actor, his stage presence was believable and undoubtedly has a lot in store for the future.