Great soundtrack!

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2008)

The soundtrack is pretty darn good! And yes, the movie is entertaining, too. But Young Folks by Peter, Bjorn and John, You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones (Re-Mixed), and L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever) by Mark Ronson featuring Kasabian definitely add to the overall appeal of 21, along with other amazing tracks.
Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) is terrific as MIT geek Ben Campbell desperate for a Harvard Med scholarship. He gets chosen to join the underground elite team of blackjack-playing smarties after impressing his non-linear equations prof Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey). Beauty and brains Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth) can't help but fall for Ben, who is not only achingly cute, but can also impressively do the math. Trouble ensues when casino consultant Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne) gets suspicious.
Directed by Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde), 21 is said to deviate a lot from the book Bringing Down the House on which it is based, but effectively tells a proper story nonetheless. Aside from another white guy, the rest of the crew is Asian American (Korean and Filipino). However, the real Ben Campbell is Jeffrey Ma (who has a bit part as Planet Hollywood Dealer Jeff), and the rest of the real characters are mostly of Asian descent, too. But this is still a Hollywood flick, after all, so this product must be sold in the way producers (which includes Spacey) see fit.