Enjoyable movie, that attempts to span several different genres with varying success

Rating: 5/10 (29 April 2008)

21; a movie about an exceptionally talented young mathematician, Ben, who reluctantly joins 4 other students in an attempt to count cards in Vegas and raise $300,000 in order to attend Harvard School of Medicine, but Ben soon finds the wealth he gains more alluring than he imagined.
21's main strength is also its biggest weakness on many occasions, it tries very hard to span several different genres; smart thriller, Apatow style geek comedy, teen coming of age drama, sweet romance and profound morality tale. 21 dubiously juggles these balls, for the most part, successfully. The plot is, more often than not, engrossing, Ben's close friends provide an effective comedic counterbalance to the moralising of the main Vegas storyline, Kevin spacey and the other students manage to prop up an often two-dimensional performance from Jim Sturgess (for example: whenever something happens to Ben that is new or outside of his comfort zone, Sturgess does the same breathy sigh and looks at the floor) while the tale's concluding moral, one that rewards friendship, loyalty, reminds you not to forget who you are once you achieve success, and values hard work over corruption, may seem like a tale that's been told before, but remains a worthwhile message nonetheless.
Unfortunately, 21 drops a juggling ball or two along the way. An insistence to portray Ben as some sort of nerdy hero causes the film to indulge in trite clichés, most annoyingly, Ben's initial encounter with the card counting students, a shameful example of the 'outsider that's learnt to be accepted by the cooler kids' storyline. The romantic subplot appears underdeveloped and rather impromptu. Excursionary story lines that, while enjoyable, don't often add much to the overall plot bring about an excessive use of montage to hurry the story along, which can become tiresome and result in a loss of tension in the casino scenes (as opposed to the tense and gripping games in Casino Royale). The final twists are possibly the biggest let down though, predictable and too sugary , they may be impressive to the pre and early teen audience, but anyone older should really be left wanting something more substantial.
21 is a film that lets itself down by trying to be too many things to too many people, (ambition is good, but you can't please everyone) which is a shame, because it could have been a really great escapist fantasy and despite its many flaws this was an enjoyable Vegas caper.