Loosely based on the true story

Rating: 7/10 (17 December 2008)

"21" is the story of the famous MIT Blackjack Team that plays fast and loose with the real story. Nevertheless, it's still a compelling and interesting movie. It's really a morality tale about a brilliant young man, Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is talked by a professor (Kevin Spacey) into joining a blackjack group that counts cards, uses hand signals, codes, and disguises, and goes to Vegas every weekend. Ben has been accepted into Harvard pre-med but has no way of getting the $300,000 tuition. In this story, there are no such things as financial packages and student loans. Ben reluctantly joins the group but only until he can make his Harvard money. Of course, that's not what happens. Once in and living the high life, he can't stop. He finally becomes so arrogant that he makes what turns out to be a very costly mistake.
The shots of Boston, where I went to school, and Vegas are great, and the acting is excellent. Sturgess is joined by the beautiful Kate Bosworth, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, and Jacob Pitts. Laurence Fishburne has a small role, but he's scary as all get-out as a security man. Two real-life members of the Blackjack Team played card dealers.
In the actual story, there were several of these groups out of MIT that played for years. In telescoping the story, there are a few holes. For instance, Campbell never wears a disguise until the end, which in real life, never happened. The only one who consistently wears a disguise is Bosworth; these teams were much more careful than that. Also, they seem to go to Vegas every week instead of switching off with Atlantic City, for instance, or laying low for a time.
There are a few interesting twists in "21," and it moves quickly. Recommended - a very good movie.