Based on book Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich, 21 fictitiously enhances the real-life story of a group of clever Massachusetts Insitute of Technology (MIT) students, who came to be dubbed the MIT Blackjack Team by the media.
Synopsis of 21
In the film, we follow the meteoric rise of central figure Ben Campbell (Across the Universe's Jim Sturgess, decently masking his usually pronounced English accent), a gifted but naive med school hopeful, with an incredible, computer-like mind, when it comes to numbers.
He is soon approached by Professor Mickey Rosa (played by the always animated Kevin Spacey), who invites Ben to join his young group of card counters, who make frequent weekend jaunts to Las Vegas, in order to beat the casinos' own house odds. Together they succeed by counting and keeping track of high cards and low cards in a deck, thereby increasing their odds of winning large.
It doesn't take long for a seasoned casino security pro (played with intensity by Laurence Fishburne) to catch on to their tactics, and soon the MIT Blackjack Team must figure out a way to maximize on their jackpot earnings, before the house wisens up and installs face recognition software, or worse yet, cath them and take them out back, to offer them the customary cheaters' welcome wagon, fists and all.
Main Cast of Characters in the Movie 21
Though Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne are clearly the top billed actors in this project, relative newcomer Jim Sturgess carries the movie for the most part, as his character is the top talent in the fictitious group of schemers. He is comparably good, and holds his own, despite having only acted in a limited number of North American projects. Given the praise he received in his turn as Jude in Across the Universe, it's no surprise that he could succeed fairly well at locking horns with his Oscar Winning and Oscar Nominated leads.
Kevin Spacey is mesmerizing as usual, in his turn as an unstable and vindictive mentor, both generous and vicious. A subplot of the films hints at a past rivalry between Fishburne's character and that of Spacey's, and so this added threat only adds fuel to the potentially explosive predicament the young geniuses could find themselves into, if caught.
Laurence Fishburne is also well cast as the tired and yet determined security expert Cole Williams. Though many other high caliber actors could have played well opposite as strong a screen presence as Kevin Spacey, Fishburne feels right at home, as an old time nemesis to Spacey's Mickey Rosa.
Last but not least is Kate Bosworth, who plays Jill Taylor, one of young Ben Campbell's fellow blackjack genius card counters. Bosworth doesn't get much to do this time around, and her character is mostly thrown in as a potential love interest to the protagonist, and as a voice of conscience. Unfortunately, she can be too easily overlooked in this movie, and so her role feels wasted, as do the other four actors playing the young schemers. They all come off as seat warmers, and are given only a handful of clever lines, mostly for comic effect.
Fun Fact: Jeff Ma, one of the real-life MIT Blackjack players, has a cameo in the film, as a croupier who deals out cards to Ben Campbell's character, during the "Rain Man reference" scene. Jim Sturgess greets him, calling him "Jeff, my brother from another mother", clearly an inside joke that his own character is the fictitious version of Jeff Ma in real life.
DVD Extras on 21
There are a few interesting nuggets included into the bonus features of this DVD, the more interesting one being "21: the Advantage Player", where the actors playing the MIT Blackjack Team explain the technique used in the film.
The technique is called The True Count System, where a player keeps track of the number of cards already played out in a card shoe, by adding or subtracting one, based on the value of a card. It's not for math dropouts, but it offers a fair bit of insight, into how a participant can be aware of when to bet big, rather than lose out thousands on a bad hand.
Other features include a making-of docu which has interviews with bost cast and crew, as well as Jeff Ma, one of the original players, on which the book was based.
Overall Analysis of the Movie 21
This movie plays well enough, in that it doesn't aspire to be more than what it really is, namely a simple blackjack caper film. It never tried to be a large scale caper blockbuster like any of the Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve or Ocean's Thirteen films. Instead, it narrows its focus on a small group of people who just thought they'd use their math skills to turn the odds in their favor.
Well photographed, concise, and able to inject some humanity into its main character, 21 is a capable showcase of a suspenseful yet simple tale, which can keep its audience interested, for its two-hour running time.
Expect great things from lead actor Jim Sturgess, on either side of the pond, as he will no doubt continue to impress, given the growing success he has managed so far.
Simple Yet Solid: 7.75 out of 10
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