"21" is amusing but lifeless entertainment

Rating: 5/10 (18 January 2009)

If you didn't know that "21" was based on the true story of a handful of MIT students taking Vegas for millions by counting cards in blackjack, you'd have no idea. Not that it's not plausible, but the movie plays out so melodramatically, so predictably Hollywood, that it strips the story told in Ben Mezrich's book "Bringin' Down the House" of its uniqueness, its potential to show what happens when young aspiring college students get caught up in the other-worldly glitz and glamor of Las Vegas. "21" chooses to go for style points, moving quickly through a basic plot line simply to deliver what it thinks is slick entertainment. It keeps your attention, but it's amateur-ish in its delivery.
"21" focuses on the specific story of Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess of "Across the Universe"), a genius MIT student whose one dream is to attend Harvard Medical School and his only obstacle is money. When his professor Micky Rosa (Spacey) discovers his mathematical genius, he enlists his help as a "business partner" training him to join his team of blackjack card-counting students who take weekend trips to Vegas to make bank.
Ben is initially very resistant to the idea, saying a definitive no to a very tempting Kate Bosworth. Naturally, he has a change of heart, but the film lets out that it doesn't really care about its characters when we see no motivation for the change. We could assume the money is too hard to pass up, but we really don't know. The characters merely go through all the motions, same with the relationship that eventually buds between Bosworth's character Jill and Ben.
The movie follows this basic nobody prodigy discovers a hidden talent and rides the waves of fortune until he becomes cocky and thickheaded and trouble starts. Not that you expect anything different, but that's really all it is. Pepper that with flashy gambling shots and montages of living it up in Las Vegas and that's your movie. There are several scenes that seem so forced or dialog that seems unnecessary that you have to laugh at it. It's just not something you can take too seriously. All this just detracts from the interesting storytelling possibilities that the concept offers.
All the same, you root for Ben anyway, you want to know what happens and you feel reasonably entertained. Despite director Robert Luketic ("Legally Blonde") choosing a lot of poor, overdone techniques, "21" is paced well and keeps your attention. The only difference is that you don't care what happens, you just want to know.
There's nothing clever, smooth or edgy about "21" though it just seems to come off that way. You're usually a step ahead of what's going on, so there's no way you can be dazzled by the story. It's the thrill of Vegas and winning big that keeps us tagging along with the story.