Movies

21 Review

Loosely based on a true story about a group of M.I.T. students who went to Vegas and counted cards, 21 focusses on Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) who, desperate to find a way to pay for Harvard Medical School, joins a group of card counters that go to Vegas every weekend and make a small fortune beating the casinos at blackjack. The only question is can Ben win the $300,000 he needs before casino enforcer Cole Williams (Lawrence Fishburne) tracks him down and makes him pay.

 

Originally, because the film was about Jeff Ma, an Asian-American, so Masa Oka (Heroes) was tabbed to play the hero in this movie, but when they couldn’t agree to a contract, the studio hired Sturgess instead and tweaked the script. 21 loses momentum the second Ben goes from nerd to stud on campus. His transformation in a matter of days is rather unbelievable, as is the fact that he is so stupid as to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in his dorm room. Despite its predictability, the movie isn’t all bad. The pacing and writing of the film are pretty good, as is the sub story of Ben’s nerdy friends, who are competing in a robotics contest.