21
Loosely based on real events, this movie has the potential to be powerful and poignant, but instead it settles for being a mildly entertaining popcorn flick. If you check your brain at the door and don’t mind style over substance, it’s good for a couple of hours of mindless entertainment.
When I first sat down to see this movie , the reality of my situation started to sink in . I was about to see a movie direct by Robert Luketic , the same guy rope who directedLegally blond , get ahead a engagement with Tad Hamilton , andMonster - in - Law . Plus , one of the executive producers was Brett Ratner . Okay , so peradventure I should n’t expectCitizen Kanehere , but would it at least be enjoyable ? To be fair , it is reasonably enjoyable , but it falls far short of its potentiality .
Before I go into much detail about the story , I should cite that the real standout in this moving picture is Jim Sturgess . The handwriting does n’t give him much in terms of eccentric , but his acting power seems to rise above the relative averageness of the script . Not only that , but he is a British actor doing an American accent , and I do n’t recall a single cutting - up in his American dialect throughout the film . Granted , he is playing a guy wire from the East Coast , which makes it alittleeasier , but still … I thought he really stood out from the rest of the stamp .
generally free-base on the bookBringing Down the Houseby Ben Mezrich about the real - life MIT wit - reckon team , this movie is set ( where else ? ) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . The protagonist is Ben Campbell ( played by Jim Sturgess ) , an MIT bookman who is about to graduate . He has been accepted to Harvard Medical School , but he ’s worried about how he will be capable to yield the $ 300,000 it will cost him to attend . A full - drive scholarship , for which there is obviously fierce competition , is Ben ’s only hope for attend Harvard Med . ( Apparently Ben is unacquainted with the concept of aesculapian schooltime loan , but I digress … )
As Ned Flanders would say , Ben is in a real dilly of a pickle . Will he get the scholarship to go to Harvard Medical School ? ( Insert nail - biting levelheaded outcome here … ) Or will he be force to make do with a degree from MIT ? Luckily for Ben , he happens to be a math studmuffin , and his nonlinear equation professor , Mickey Rosa ( work by Kevin Spacey ) , is so impressed with his math ability that he enrol him to be on his hush-hush blackjack squad . The squad has a card - counting strategy develop by Professor Rosa , and they want to take the Vegas casino for million . At first , Ben is reluctant to join , but one of the team member , Jill Taylor ( played by Kate Bosworth ) , approach him and asks him to reconsider . Since Jill is a hottie and Ben has been wanting to necessitate her out anyway , he think better of his previous decision and decides to bring together the squad .
motion picture cliché # 295 :
Ben : I only want to earn enough to compensate for aesculapian schoolhouse . After that , I ’m out .
Jill : That ’s what they all say .
After some trial runs plus a rather silly initiation , Ben and the squad are quick to steer out to Vegas , infant . Of course , the squad ’s determination , membership and universe are more super - secret than a government defence mechanism contract , so Ben has to lie to everyone , including his mother and his friend , about why he ’s gone so much . Professor Rosa is pulling string so that Ben can keep passing his class and grad , but Ben ’s ally , Miles ( play by Josh Gad ) and Cam ( bring by Sam Golzari ) , are feeling left in the pitch . The three of them are theorize to finish a robotics labor for an coming competition , but with Ben drop dead so much , their projection is begin to descend behind schedule .
As if poor Ben ’s liveliness is n’t already complicated enough , he becomes so addicted to his new high - rolling lifestyle that he gets cocky , deviates from the system of rules and starts losing money , which makes Professor Rosa very angry . The movie goes out of its way to show you that life can be very unpleasant if you ’re on Professor Rosa ’s bad side . To make matters worse , a security consultant at Planet Hollywood casino named Cole Williams ( played by Laurence Fishburne ) estimate out that Ben is part of a scorecard - counting squad . Since this is a Hollyweird pic , Cole does n’t ask Ben to allow for or even have him forcibly remove from the premises . Instead he takes him in back , beats the bullshit out of him and jeopardize to kill him if he ever return . ( Apparently Cole is unacquainted with the concepts of police and personal combat injury lawyers , but I digress … )
“21” is a drama film directed by Robert Luketic that follows a group of MIT students who learn to count cards and take on Las Vegas casinos. Led by their unorthodox professor, played by Kevin Spacey, the students join forces to devise a sophisticated system to win millions at blackjack. The film stars Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, and Laurence Fishburne and explores themes of risk, reward, and the moral dilemmas of gambling.
Movie cliché # 49 :
Cole : You consider you could beat out the organization ?
Does Ben rejoin anyway , not only to Vegas , but to theexact samecasino where Cole jeopardise to kill him ? You get three speculation . ( plain Ben is unfamiliar with with the concepts of Atlantic City casinos and aboriginal American casinos , but I digress … )
Having lost a huge amount of money , Ben faces an rising battle . Will he be able to recover enough money to pay for medical school ? Will he still be capable to help his friends finish the robotics project ? Will he be able to dig his mode out from all the lies he has been tell everybody ? Will he bust a move on the hottie Jill ?
For me , the most frustrating thing about this motion picture is how much potential it squanders . I lately sawThe Treasure of the Sierra Madrewith Humphrey Bogart , which is one of the good moving picture I have ever seen . Its theme is summed up in a classic line by Walter Huston : " I ’ve consider what gold does to men ’s souls . " Of course , the theme of21is meant to be standardized , but whileSierra Madredoes an excellent job of usher a person ’s eventual origin into madness borne of greed,21shows us a clustering of fretful kids who do n’t have the vulgar sentience God gave a billy caprine animal . There is mickle of entertainment value in21 , but it has nowhere near the depth of the timeless classic to which it tap equivalence .
To use the vernacular of Bob Phillips ( played by Jack Gilpin ) , who is interview Ben at Harvard Medical School at the get-go of the movie , this variant of the story does n’t bedazzle . It does n’t jump off the varlet — or the screen . alternatively of accept some risk and really having a point to make , the filmmakers stay mostly in dependable , formulaic territory . They freeze off quite a bit of the true story ’s world and substitute their own . The result is somewhat entertaining , but not nearly as much as it could ( and should ) be .
" 21 " is a drama flick directed by Robert Luketic that follow a group of MIT pupil who learn to look plug-in and take on Las Vegas casino . lead by their maverick professor , played by Kevin Spacey , the students join force to get up a sophisticated system to come through millions at blackjack . The film stars Jim Sturgess , Kate Bosworth , and Laurence Fishburne and search themes of risk of infection , reward , and the moral dilemma of gambling .
