21 film review

certificate_12A

21

It's a dream for many to win their fortune at Las Vegas, but for a group of gifted M.I.T. students, that dream became a reality. Based on true events, 21 tells the story of six young geniuses who, in the 1990s, devised a system to win at blackjack and proceeded to use Vegas as a well-stocked ATM, withdrawing millions. It's one of those stories that Hollywood finds irresistible, but true to form, in the course of translating it on to the big screen, it's been given a glossy sheen, the inevitable romantic sub-plot and baddie, all of which transforms a once extraordinary tale into rather more formulaic fodder.

There have been some classic gambling movies that have exploited the sheer drama of card games to great effect, but here screenwriters Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb, along with director Robert Luketic, have failed to capture any of blackjack's inherent excitement. As a result, 21's numerous casino scenes become like Vegas itself, all bright lights and no depth. It's what happens when six mathematical whizzes apply a formula to eliminate surprise and doubt.

21 focuses on one of the students, Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) who has fulfilled a lifelong ambition by earning a place at Harvard Medical School, but to attend the prestigious establishment, he requires a small matter of $300,000. Ben's brilliance with numbers brings him to the attention of his M.I.T. professor Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey) who recruits him to his special group. Employing a proven method of counting cards, the group takes regular visits to Vegas where, using a complex system of signals, they work as a team to eliminate suspicion. Though counting cards is not illegal, relieving casinos of millions of dollars is naturally not welcomed and here the group, which includes Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), are trying to avoid detection by the casino's ruthless enforcer Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne).

Spacey, whose production company acquired the rights to Ben Mezrich's original article on the students in Wired magazine, is at his malevolent best as Rosa who intimidates the group with his aggressive manner and the threat of sabotaging their academic careers. Sturgess too does a commendable job, giving Campbell a convincing blend of intellect, geekiness and, when intoxicated with the wealth and glamour of his Vegas persona, invincibility.