Take off in a dull, grey winter, and land in an everlasting subtropic summer

Rating: 7/10 (12 October 2008)

Even though 21 constitutes of elements you can find in a lot of movies, I did not feel I was watching the thirty-fourth version of the poor, miserable kid getting rich and then losing it all again, so there can be a lesson learnt, that it is not money that makes our life but honest relationships and loyalty. All was there, in the script, for it to be a forgettable flick full of uninteresting characters, common places and shallow moralizing, but good pacing, nice photographing and a terrific Kevin Spacey made it a good past-time to sit it through. A heartfelt performance from Jim Sturgess was just another surprising add-on.
I am not a huge fan of cards, but this film has implanted an honest curiosity in me for blackjack. I know the system these kids follow is partly false - it has to be; I never endorsed a film teaching you to cheat, to build bombs out of household materials, to paralyze somebody by tapping on a hidden stress point -, still, it makes me wonder what stunts you can pull to enhance your chances of winning in card games.
The last action sequence, however, is too very reminiscent of the plots of cheap B movies and there also are some awkward moments - very unlikely situations - throughout the whole movie, nevertheless, I tend to like it. Regardless of how things conclude, it gives you back your childish hopes and dreams of once kicking it big time.
You too, like Ben Campbell, can get fooled by the fake facade of Vegas - the city that only comes to life when it is soaking in floodlight -, and the blinding contrast it shows with the grey, slushy winter streets of the traditional, WASP college cities of the Northeast.