21 (2008)
Movie Overview
Release date: 2008
Runtime: 123 min
Genre: Drama
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, Laurence Fishburne, Jack McGee, Josh Gad,
Director: Robert Luketic
Produced by: Kevin Spacey, William S. Beasley, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Ryan Kavanaugh, Brett Ratner
Critics (23)
Users (12)
My Rating
Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent, student at M.I.T. in Boston who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine with the desire to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 for the four to five years of school since he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor Micky Rosa into a small but secretive club of five. Students Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Fisher, who are being trained by Professor Rosa of the skill of card counting at blackjack. Intriged by the desire to make money, Ben joins his new friends on secret weekend trips to Las Vegas where, using their skills of code talk and hand signals, they have Ben make hundreds of thousands of dollars in winning blackjack at casino after casino. Ben only wants to make enough money for the tuition to Harvard and then back out. But as fellow card counter, Jill Taylor, predicts, Ben becomes corrupted by greed and his arrogance at winning which lets his feelings get in the way, and it also puts Professor Rosa, as well as the group, on the radar of a brutal casino security enforcer, named Cole Williams, who holds a personal grudge of some kind against Rosa which threatens to undo everything the students have learned and earned.
Critics Reviews
The film, with its stylized, dazzling surfaces and twisted, noirish alternately hip and moody atmosphere, does impress with its central stormy romance.
And Spacey as the deranged professor, has got to be setting a new record here as the worst teacher on the planet.
... Full Review
Atomic Popcorn | 2008-03-28
The lights and action are captured well in the faces of the actors along with a great soundtrack to lead us from place to place.
On the whole, the film is a crowd pleaser with a great cast, solid performances and believable characters.
... Full Review
Film School Rejects | 2008-03-30
If the film were boring, I would undoubtedly be on the other side here.
Kevin Spacey hasnt had a meaty, award worthy role in a good long while and this certainly isnt a career highlight, but its fun to watch him here as Micky, and his character reminds you that Vegas does have a dark side.
... Full Review
And yet, 21 plays into its conventions well.
He has a pair of best friends (Josh Gad and Sam Golzari) and a science project he quickly abandons.
... Full Review
In fact, the whole film is beautifully shot.
Director Robert Luketic has helmed his first major motion picture and the result is a "winner, winner, chicken dinner", to quote a popular line in his film, "21".
... Full Review
User Reviews
Not The Movie It Could Have Been
CalifDude@imdb | 2008-03-31
This movie was based on a true story, and if the makers had stuck closer to the true story it could have been a much better movie. But no, they had to Hollywoodize it and dumb it down so that... Read more at imdb.com
chagir | 2008-03-31
It is a good movie based on MIT smart students who are brought together by a MIT professor to play blackjack and make lots of moeny. They are good at card counting and use some strategies to make lots of money as a team in Vegas. It is based on the book "Bringing Down the House " and is really good to watch. I enjoyed this movie every bit- especially since I am a blackjack fan myself I liked the…...
Entertaining but very cliché.
Cocacolaguy912-2@imdb | 2008-04-21
21 is worth seeing on a restless Friday or Saturday night with friends, but it isn't anything more than that. The film features nice performances from actors Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne, as well as nice entries from the lesser... Read more at imdb.com
Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner
GermanDragon@imdb | 2008-04-01
There are many stories about success based on hard-work and perseverance. There have also been many stories about success based on crime and abandonment of the law. Both of these scenarios can make for great movies -- but when a... Read more at imdb.com
Good, but not Great
JustCuriosity@imdb | 2008-03-09
This film screened at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. It is a reasonable well-made based-on-a-true-story film that tells the story of a group of MIT students who attempt to make a fortune counting cards in Vegas. The screenplay... Read more at imdb.com
Latest News
LQ Senior Center to show '21' for Movie Thursday
Movie Thursdays are offered each week at the La Quinta Senior Center, 78-450 Avenida La Fonda.Movies are free and seating is available on a first come, first serve basis. ... Full Article
Thumb Wars: A weekly forum for pop culture quarrels.
It's been my personal experience that talking about Las Vegas is a lot like talking about Disneyland. People either hate the places' capitalist excesses or love the "American ingenuity" of building a fake city countless miles away from a water... ... Full Article
New DVD releases include '21'
Much like a certain desert oasis in Nevada, director Robert Luketic's "21" possesses plenty of glitz and glamour. But, unlike the Ben Mezrich book the film is based on -- "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT... ... Full Article
2008 CINEVEGAS FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES LINEUP (2008-05-07)
The 10th annual CineVegas Film Festival, to be held June 12 - 21 at the Palms Casino Resort and the Brenden Theatres, will open with Peter Cattaneo's "The Rocker" and close with Sean McGinly's "The Great Buck Howard," it was... ... Full Article
Sacking 'Leatherheads', '21' Remains Supreme at Box Office
The blackjack caper drama '21' has managed to stay atop the weekend box office, which ended on April 6, after outselling its supposed to be strongest competitor 'Leatherheads'. ... Full Article
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