Mildly entertaining movie weak on characterization

Rating: 5/10 (4 November 2009)

21 tells the story about young MIT student Ben Cambell who is trying to somehow finance Harvard medical school. He is admitted the school but does not have the funds to pay for it. He is a brilliant student in the areas of mathematics and logic and by chance is spotted by his teacher Michael Rosa, who welcomes him into his student group of competent card counters.
In my view the theme of the film is achievement. What does it mean to achieve something and are all the ways of achieving great things legitimate? This central theme is especially apparent when looking at Bens relationship with his old friends that cools way down when he starts spending all his weekends in Vegas, and suddenly does not have the time for his buddies anymore. It is precisely in Ben's treatment of his friends that we really begin to question the legitimacy of his new path to gaining funds for MED school.
The film does engage its audience but to my mind the characters surrounding Ben are way too weak. There are too many unanswered questions about the motivation of the other characters. For instance about the teacher Rosa. How is he using all the money he wins? What happened in the past? The love interest Jill Taylor seems more of an image than a real character - what is her motivation? The same goes for the other team members. The central characters are portrayed in a sketchy manner where we do not have any idea about their motivation. It is only Ben's story and Ben's motivation that is part of the film.
It would have been a much stronger film, if the theme of achievement would have been supported in the characterization of the other characters in the film.