Have we not seen this film before?

Rating: 5/10 (10 September 2008)

The answer to my question is yes. This particular effort was first a non-fiction novel by Ben Mezrich telling us about 6 very bright,but stupid MIT students & there somewhat slimy professor who robbed Las Vegas Blackjack tables for millions. Peter Steinfeld and Allen Loeb wrote the screenplay. The director is Robert Luketic.
I wonder how much research these film creators made.The film in inaccurate in the portrayals of the Las Vegas Casino operations,Las Vegas itself,MIT the school these students are from & a few other things.
All these inaccuracies could be tolerated in a film that was interesting and fun to watch. Even the original Ocean's Eleven, in all the Rat Pack's foolishness,Studio sets etc seemed more real.
Now OCEANS 11 & its sequels had real professional actors doing these roles & made us accept all the inaccuracies as fun.
The performers in 21, have looks & some talent and that is about all. Jim Sturgess is the lead actor, He may eventually be a good actor. Kate Bosworth is the requisite female & yes the 2 of them do have a mild role in the hay. The other 4 student are OK.NONE of them standout. Kevin Spacey is the slimy teacher, he used to give great performances What happened. Laurence Fishburn (the most talented actor in the cast) is wasted,
This film was made on location in Boston & Las Vegas areas,the sets look good & thats about it, also none of the song score was done live, NOTE the do have live entertainment in casinos, but not in this film.
The running time is 124 very long,very boring minutes,thus my ** (unsatisfactory) rating.
ratings ** (out of 4) 58 points(out of 100) IMDb (5 out of 10)