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Inspired by a true story, 21 mixes Las Vegas casino wheeling
and dealing with college-kid angst. Kevin Spacey is crafty MIT professor Micky
Rosa, who trains gifted students to count cards and then flies them out to
Vegas to raid the blackjack tables between classes.
At first they rake
in a bundle, but then catch the unwanted attention of tough-guy security chief,
Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne) who wants to prove himself before he's
replaced by face recognition software.
Maths genius Ben Campbell (Jim
Sturgess) originally joins the ring in order to come up with the $300,000 he
needs for tuition money, but he's also smitten with the ring's resident babe,
Jill (Kate Bosworth). When he finds out Professor Rosa hasn't been dealing
entirely from a straight deck, Ben's high-end shopping spree dreams turn sour
(though card counting is not illegal) and the battle of wits is on, no second
chances given.
Spacey is in his preternaturally calm, morally
compromised element, stealing scenes left and right; Fishburne brings the
hangdog depth; and director Robert Luketic (LEGALLY BLONDE) succeeds in making
the film glossy, stylish and thrilling. 21 is based on the bestseller BRINGING
DOWN THE HOUSE by Ben Mezrich.
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Now I have to say
that from the beginning of this film nothing makes sense. All the facts about
playing team Blackjack in the 21st century are utter rubbish. The tactics
employed would have been out of date in the early 1970s. The simplicity of
their team structure and attack methods beggers anyones belief and the ease
with which they win is laughable.
The behaviour of the casino staff is
straight from Disney World and Ben's ability to store $300,000 in cash in the
false ceiling space in his student digs questions whether his IQ is on a par
with a chimpanzee.
My conclusion is that this film was paid for by the
large casino firms in an attempt to stop the decline in their business. And
there is no sex? In Vegas!
Score 3 out of 10 for very good
cinematography. |
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| Director |
Robert
Luketic |
Kevin
Spacey |
Prof.
Micky Rosa |
| Producer |
Kevin
Spacey |
Jim
Sturgess |
Ben
Campbell |
| Writing |
Peter
Steinfeld |
Kate
Bosworth |
Jill
Taylor |
| Cinematography |
Russell
Carpenter |
Laurence Fishburne |
Cole
Williams |
| Cert./Runtime |
123
mins |
Aaron
Yoo |
Choi |
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