Columbia Pictures'

21

Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Spacey

Directed by: Robert Luketic

RS: 3of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 3of 4 Stars

2008 Drama

Odds are you're going to like this lively spin on the true story of six MIT mathletes who broke the Vegas bank in the 1990s. Loosely adapted from Ben Mezrich's best-selling Bringing Down the House, the movie stretches facts like taffy but never shirks its responsibility to entertain. And, jeez, it's a kick to see Kevin Spacey up to his old tricks as the sultan of snark. Spacey plays Mickey Rosa, a math prof who cherry-picks the brainiest students to join his secret club of card counters. They rake it in at blackjack on weekend trips to Vegas. His newest recruit is Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), an innocent with a knack for numbers to rival Rain Man's. Sturgess does a nifty job as this poor Boston lad, given that he's a Brit best known for starring in Across the Universe. The guy has acting chops and a built-in appeal that keeps us in his corner. It's a good thing, since Ben, who needs $300,000 for tuition at Harvard Medical, does some pretty stupid things to get it, like signing on with Mickey against his better instincts. And with Kate Bosworth slinking around as Jill, one of Mickey's spotters, he's a goner. Director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde, Monster-in-Law) would like to be Scorsese following the money during the first third of Casino. He's not. But the setup for the sting is irresistible. Ben and the experienced Fisher (Jacob Pitts) do the heavy betting while Jill, Choi (Aaron Yoo) and Kianna (Liza Lapira) do the spotting for hot decks and the appearance of Cole Williams (a glowering Laurence Fishburne), the casino head-basher who steps in — there's no law against card-counting — when the house loses. 21 drags itself to a climax that puts credulity in splints. So what? In a multiplex of dumb-luck hits, it's a kick to watch Spacey and a gifted young cast use smarts to deal audiences a winning hand.

>>Watch Peter Travers' video review of 21.

>>Watch every episode of our weekly Peter Travers video podcast by subscribing via iTunes here (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Friday, a new episode featuring clips from the week's newest movies will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don’t have iTunes, download it here.]

>>Plus: Watch Peter Travers interview Jim Sturgess on ABCNews.com here.

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: Apr 3, 2008)

Your Turn

Give us your review of
21

Review 1 of 9

3of 4 Stars

good story but laim acotors...besides kevin...i liked it i dont think it was a waste of time at all

Jun 17, 2008 09:40:20

Review 2 of 9

1of 4 Stars

Total waste of time. Period.

Apr 16, 2008 20:16:48

Review 3 of 9

2of 4 Stars

This film is a fact based story bout 6 MIT students who hit the Vegas Blackjack table. This movie centers around a college student Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) who is in his Senior year at MIT, he is a genius with perfect grades and SAT scores. He is trying to get into Harvard Medical school, but he has very little money. He needs 300,000 dollars for medical school. His math professor Micky Rosa played by Kevin Spacey catches the eye of this stud during his class. He answered the question so elaborately that it blew Rosa away, and Rosa gave him the chance to go to Vegas and count cards at the blackjack table.

Apr 12, 2008 17:39:00

Review 4 of 9

3of 4 Stars

I could have given it two stars, if I wasn't such a fan of gambling flicks... the book had me wet, but I wasn't so dissapointed in the movie either... it's no Scorcese flick, but for what it was it wasn't bad - tres entertaining non the less. Was however dissapointed in the soundtrack, to me any taboo-esque film should have a rockin' soundtrack (that's the Scorcese fan talking), but they kinda made up for it with You Can't Always Get What You Want in the end. So, a somewhat generous 3 stars, firmly. Good work overall. Spacey was a gem, as always.

Apr 6, 2008 11:38:53

Review 5 of 9

3of 4 Stars

This movie was very entertaining but the book is much better. I was impressed with Jim Sturgess and Kevin Spacey was awesome, of course. Not a big Kate Bosworth fan but she was pretty good.
Russel Carpenter did an outstanding job on photography for his first time using HD. I usually like the look of film much more but for this movie it worked very well.

Mar 31, 2008 17:16:42

Review 6 of 9

2of 4 Stars

Exciting book turned Hollywood...disappointing as the book had plenty of material and real-life situations to keep a viewer on the edge of their seat for two hours. The movie lacks authenticity and embellishes creativity to the point where interest is lost. 2 stars as the acting was average in comparison to the below average script...could have easily been one star.

Mar 31, 2008 11:21:30

Review 7 of 9

4of 4 Stars

A group of four of us saw "21" last night and were thoroughly entertained from start to finish!! Kevin Spacey is at his subtle, evil best.The new young star, Jim Sturgess, a Paul McCartney look-alike(which pleases this 40+ years Beatles fan) is absolutely terrific. He's charming, humble and good-looking -- just the right qualities to keep us in his corner!!

Mar 30, 2008 07:45:25

Review 8 of 9

1of 4 Stars

Your article forgot to mention the racist casting of this movie, about how the main book characters 'Kevin Lewis', 'Steve Fisher', and 'Mickey Rosa' were real-life Asian American males Jeff Ma, Mike Aponte, and John Chang, who miraculously became White people in the film. Imagine the outrage if Hollywood made 'Coach Carter', a real life story, starring a White actor instead of Sam Jackson?

Mar 23, 2008 12:23:31

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