Genre: Drama
Tagline: Inspired by a true story about students who changed the game forever or as one movie poster said, “Make it Count” (which I like better…)
Ebert gave it: 1.5 stars (OUCH!)
Hey kids remember when your teachers told you to do your research? Yeah you should listen to your elders. I was debating between this movie and Stop-Loss for some Friday night fun and i picked 21 for a few reasons. I love Kevin Spacey, I LOVE Jim Sturgess (you know the cutie foreigner from Across the Universe), and I enjoy gambling..and I like to see how tiny Kate Bosworth can get…I was blinded by my loves and didn’t read Ebert’s review or even the book that this is based on…or the article that says the book isn’t even true…yeah.
Ben Campbell (Sturgess) is a Boston nerd who wants to go to Med School but doesn’t have the cash. His brains allow him to be acknowledged for a scholarship but his boring life seems to put that plan on hold. But wait, his brains come in handy again – to get him into a math club that gambles big on the weekends. So Ben learns to count cards from his professor, Micky (Spacey). After learning the ins and outs and the rules of the game the team takes off to Vegas baby!
After winning tons of money – enough to pay for Harvard – Ben gets addicted to the thrill and the win…like many gamblers. But, everyone knows you should quit while you are ahead and Ben doesn’t. Everyone also know the house always wins. And even though counting cards isn’t illegal the house doesn’t appreciate it. Ben finds himself in some trouble with the casino and finds that he loses everything. But wait, the story isn’t over yet! He may be down, but is definitely not out. Ready for the twist? I bet you’ll see it coming.
Ebert ripped this movie apart, so I’ll take it easy. First off, it wasn’t the acting…I found Spacey’s character comical…I love his dry sense of humor – this is actually how I imagine he is in real life. Sturgess could have been better, he did a good job putting on the American accent, but there is no way in hell he was a boy who grew up in Boston (clearly, he needs to watch The Departed). The bad part of this film was the script. I don’t want to watch a movie that is full of bad cliches, a Geiko reference and stupid one liners that feel as though they are delivered with a pause as if to say, “get it?” The only scenes I enjoyed were when I got to learn how to count cards and the some of the casino shots. I was missing a part of that I saw in the trailer – remember when Ben is in the suit store adding up the prices of everything that the customer is going to buy? All of the equations are being added up visually above his head – it was very Beautiful Mind-ish. They so should have kept that!
My rating: 
I want to go to the casino, I’ll probably dream of Kevin Spacey…or at least watch Usual Suspects and I long for Jim’s accent because in actuality that is what makes him so darn adorable. Do I want to watch this movie again? Not really, save it for a rental it’s not worth the money…unless you like predictable and corny jobs.
