2008 Woodie Awards
Glitz and glamour do not mask predictability in '21'
Stacy Mossberger
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Life & Style
Combining the Vegas scenes from "Ocean's 11" with the drama of a MTV sitcom, the product might end up with something that looks like the recently released film, "21."??
The premise of the movie revolves around five MIT students (Jim Sturgess plays the lead role of math genius Ben Campbell and Kate Bosworth plays the token "hot girl" role of Jill Taylor) and one faculty member (Kevin Spacey plays the role of emotionless MIT professor Mickey Rosa) that form a secret blackjack team. They spend their weekdays on the MIT campus practicing card counting while their weekends and holidays are spent in Las Vegas, where they win hundreds of thousands of dollars from the casinos.
Unfortunately, the stereotypical "Las Vegas" scenes, consisting of the bright lights of The Strip, shots of money thrown into the air and high-roller hotel rooms, is something "21" doesn't stray too far from.??
The film "21" was directed by Robert Luketic ("Legally Blonde") and the screenplay was written by Peter Steinfield ("Be Cool" and "Analyze That") and Allan Loeb. It was loosely based on the nonfiction book, "Bringing Down the House" by Ben Mezrich. Aside from the book and movie being about card-counting MIT students, the two mediums do not have much in common.
?The audience will discover early on that the Campbell has been accepted to Harvard Medical School, but he and his widowed mother cannot afford the $300,000 tuition. Campbell joins Rosa's gambling club with the intention of leaving after he gets enough to pay for his college expenses. One thing eventually leads to another, and he finds himself addicted to card counting. Almost overnight, Campbell turns from a shy, introverted MIT genius into a confident, Prada-wearing poker shark.??
Luketic keeps the movie interesting by drawing the audience into the fast-paced and glamorous lives the students live in Las Vegas, even including a "Pretty Woman"-esque shopping scene. But in an effort to keep the movie fast-paced, a lot of details were omitted, which makes the movie seem unfinished. It's almost as if Luketic had so many ideas he wanted to include in the movie, but ran out of time and decided to not explain any of them. The plot runs off in 10 different directions and never really comes together in the end and, as a result, this movie leaves a lot of unanswered questions and many loose ends.
The audience never really understands why Rosa runs an underground gambling ring, but only knows that he enjoys having money. And it's not specified how much money the group ends up winning from Las Vegas; but by the rolls of hundred dollar bills that Campbell hides in his dorm ceiling, the typical consensus is "a lot."
In general, the viewer learns very little about any of the characters, other than they are MIT students who enjoy counting cards. The characters do not break out of the stereotypical personalities with which they started at the beginning of the movie.??
As far as entertainment goes, "21" is interesting and exciting enough to spend two hours watching. But if viewers are interested in the accuracy of the nonfictional event, knowing how they count cards or an unpredictable story, then they might want to stay away from this movie.
The premise of the movie revolves around five MIT students (Jim Sturgess plays the lead role of math genius Ben Campbell and Kate Bosworth plays the token "hot girl" role of Jill Taylor) and one faculty member (Kevin Spacey plays the role of emotionless MIT professor Mickey Rosa) that form a secret blackjack team. They spend their weekdays on the MIT campus practicing card counting while their weekends and holidays are spent in Las Vegas, where they win hundreds of thousands of dollars from the casinos.
Unfortunately, the stereotypical "Las Vegas" scenes, consisting of the bright lights of The Strip, shots of money thrown into the air and high-roller hotel rooms, is something "21" doesn't stray too far from.??
The film "21" was directed by Robert Luketic ("Legally Blonde") and the screenplay was written by Peter Steinfield ("Be Cool" and "Analyze That") and Allan Loeb. It was loosely based on the nonfiction book, "Bringing Down the House" by Ben Mezrich. Aside from the book and movie being about card-counting MIT students, the two mediums do not have much in common.
?The audience will discover early on that the Campbell has been accepted to Harvard Medical School, but he and his widowed mother cannot afford the $300,000 tuition. Campbell joins Rosa's gambling club with the intention of leaving after he gets enough to pay for his college expenses. One thing eventually leads to another, and he finds himself addicted to card counting. Almost overnight, Campbell turns from a shy, introverted MIT genius into a confident, Prada-wearing poker shark.??
Luketic keeps the movie interesting by drawing the audience into the fast-paced and glamorous lives the students live in Las Vegas, even including a "Pretty Woman"-esque shopping scene. But in an effort to keep the movie fast-paced, a lot of details were omitted, which makes the movie seem unfinished. It's almost as if Luketic had so many ideas he wanted to include in the movie, but ran out of time and decided to not explain any of them. The plot runs off in 10 different directions and never really comes together in the end and, as a result, this movie leaves a lot of unanswered questions and many loose ends.
The audience never really understands why Rosa runs an underground gambling ring, but only knows that he enjoys having money. And it's not specified how much money the group ends up winning from Las Vegas; but by the rolls of hundred dollar bills that Campbell hides in his dorm ceiling, the typical consensus is "a lot."
In general, the viewer learns very little about any of the characters, other than they are MIT students who enjoy counting cards. The characters do not break out of the stereotypical personalities with which they started at the beginning of the movie.??
As far as entertainment goes, "21" is interesting and exciting enough to spend two hours watching. But if viewers are interested in the accuracy of the nonfictional event, knowing how they count cards or an unpredictable story, then they might want to stay away from this movie.
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