Entertaining but with major problems

Rating: 6/10 (15 April 2008)

Let me begin by saying that I haven't read the book this movie is "based on" so I went in with no pre-conceived expectations. I enjoyed the movie, it was definitely worth a night at the movies however, I had some major issues with it that really detracted from my viewing enjoyment and yes, I know it's just a movie, but when things occur in a movie that's based on actual events that yank me out of the flow of the plot that's a problem. Things that jumped out at me were; The main character is supposed to be a genius and yet he hides over $300,000 in his ceiling?? No one is that stupid. Especially since there was no need for him to hide it at all; he won it gambling in Vegas, where gambling is legal, hello? He would have had to pay taxes on it but all he had to do was declare it as gambling winnings and open a bank account, or better yet, a short term CD to earn some interest. What did he plan to do, drop $300,000 in cash on the Dean of Admissions desk at Harvard Medical School? That would have gotten the IRS down on him in a heartbeat. It just didn't make any sense and was an incredibly stupid and unbelievable move.
The group was counting cards which is not illegal but will get you banned from any casino that catches you. I would think they would have wanted to keep a very very low profile so they didn't attract attention. Wasn't that why they wore disguises? And yet, they stayed in suites, walked into the casinos greeting everyone by name like high rollers, they did everything they possibly could TO call attention to themselves. Again, it just didn't make any sense.
Vegas casino's are all owned by major corporations these days, the days of the mob running the casinos are long over. Casino security does not beat people up over counting cards anymore, they haven't for a very long time. They escort you off the property and ban you and that's all. The main character could have filed a complaint with the Nevada Gaming Commission (because again, he hadn't done anything illegal), and the casino would have had a lot of questions to answer.
The main character's mother offers him a check for $68,000 for medical school, telling him that she's been saving it for years for him so he could go to medical school. So she obviously didn't pay for MIT if she's been saving for years for this, how did he pay for MIT? I assumed he'd gotten scholarships but they never tell you one way or the other.
Kevin Spacey's character steals his money and is going to see that he doesn't graduate, huh? Again, the main character hasn't done anything illegal, other than not declaring his winnings and paying taxes on them. On the other hand, I can't help feeling that the powers that be at MIT would take a very dim view of one of their professors acting the way Spacey's character did. All our hero had to do was go to them and spill his guts, I'm sure he could have gotten at least one or two of the others to back him up, probably the guy Spacey had already bounced from the team. He also could have gone to the police and reported the theft of the money in his room, OK, so he would have been in a little hot water with the IRS, but he would have kept at least a large portion of the cash.
Casinos don't usually comp luxury suites to big winners, more often to big losers so they'll keep coming back. They want the big winners to go elsewhere. And we're back to the low profile thing again.
There are a great many casino's in Vegas, if your trying to get away with counting, why would you go back to the same one (the Hardrock) again and again? Those are just the ones that come to mind at the moment. Again, I did enjoy the movie, but my enjoyment was tempered by the things I've listed above that were, in the end, kind of an insult to the viewers intelligence.