Casino boogie

Rating: 6/10 (4 January 2013)

Hard to believe this movie was based on a factual story, given the improbabilities in the narrative, but this was still an enjoyable caper film, colourfully set in Las Vegas, centring on a youthful team of blackjack players out to clean up in Sun City, under Tge tutelage of their college master, ex-player Kevin Spacey.
Putting aside how a runaway swindler like Spacey could find himself ensconced as an esteemed mathematics professor at Harvard, recruiting his team from students in his class, he and his young crew raid Vegas every weekend building up their "winnings" until dissent in the ranks upsets the gravy train in its tracks.
The action centres on nerdy but normal , played by Jim although one of the problems for me was that too much happens to him. By the time we've reached the predictable twist at the end, a lot if the dramatic tension has been dissipated with each succeeding development as it affects Jim.
Of course it's tricky to make blackjack gripping on the big screen and despite some clever time-lapse photography, with the threat from the security team lacking menace and too many loose strands in Jim!'s. The acting is okay amongst the younger set, but Spacey isn't really stretched here, plus his character disappears for a significant period before making the unlikely decision to return with his acolytes to Vegas for one last hit.
Running about half an hour too long, considering the slightness of the story, even the sights of Vegas itself couldn't adequately fill the gap. However, I was just about intrigued enough by the story to see it through to the end