21
For a while there in college, I spent countless hours trying (and failing miserably) to learn how to count cards after reading Ben Mezrich’s Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. So after hearing a film was going to be made based on the book, I was eager to see how it would turn out. Although it is disappointing how Robert Luketic’s 21 changed so much of the actual story, I know better than to judge a film based on its translation from print to celluloid. Besides, there are plenty of other reasons to be disappointed in this film.
Although Luketic’s 21 supposedly tells the true story of the M.I.T. card counting team, the film is nothing more than another cookie cutter Hollywood cautionary tale of how money corrupts the innocent. The story is told from the perspective of Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), a brilliant young student at M.I.T., who after getting accepted to Harvard Medical School, is struggling with the enormous costs to attend. So of course, rather than sticking with his nerdy, socially awkward character, by studying and working hard to achieve a scholarship, he decides to win his tuition money in Vegas at the blackjack table.
The team is put together and is lead by Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), an M.I.T. math professor and ex-card counter. Micky teaches the students how to count cards and develops a system of team play that allows the students to win at blackjack, while going virtually undetected by the casinos. As the team starts, and continues to win, we see the team transform from math nerds to high rollers living up the high life of Vegas. However, they quickly learn, even with a system as brilliant as theirs, in Vegas, your luck can change at the drop of a hat. After a double cross from within the team and pressure from the casino’s security consultant, Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne), the team is forced to rethink their actions. The film then takes a turn from a rise and fall from glory tale, to a story of revenge, in a similar and flashy style of Oceans Eleven.
With the staleness of the story, camera work and acting are two aspects that distract rather than accentuate. Most of the film is shot in an ultraglossy, highly saturated style that you would normally see in a music
video. Yet there were a handful of scenes which were shot on a digital handy cam, which gave the images a grainy electronic look and feel that didn’t match up with the rest of the film. In addition, the contrast in acting was another aspect that did not seem consistent in the film. The acting from the student characters were sub par and Fishburne’s reworking of his go to tough-guy role into an aging tough-guy was just lazy. It was a shock that Kevin Spacey even agreed to take this role; his superb acting ability was under utilized in this film, which seems to trivialize his past performances.
Over all the film did not live up to the hype it generated around the festival circuit and it was only mildly entertaining. You are going to like this film if you are a fan of the glitzy Vegas caper genre, which it slightly falls into. However, if you are a poker fan, you will undoubtedly be drawn in by the blackjack story, yet you will be left disappointed with only 15 minutes of screen time devoted to cards. If that’s what you are looking for you might as well read the book, it’s much better anyway.
Agree or disagree? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Technorati Tags: 21, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Blackjack, Poker, Las Vegas, Review, Drama
Probably the biggest drawback was the lack of character depth. I am baffled as to why Travis decided not to spend any time developing any of these characters fully, considering there are so many characters that span across some great archetypes. Having neglected to do so, I found that I was often sympathizing with the assassins, as they were the only characters which had any emotionally motivating purpose to their actions.
