21

Plot synopsis:
MIT student Ben Campbell, played by English actor Jim Sturgess, is accepted into Harvard Medical School, but he cannot afford the $300,000 tuition. He is interviewed as a potential candidate for the prestigious Robinson Scholarship, which will pay for all his school-related expenses. Despite boasting stats such as a 1590 SAT score, 44 MCAT score, and a 4.0 GPA at MIT, Campbell is told that competition for the scholarship is fierce. Ben is urged to write an essay that will make him stand out, an essay that will dazzle the recruiter and make Campbell's personality and abilities jump off the page.During an advanced math class, Prof. Micky Rosa, played by Kevin Spacey, challenges Campbell with the Monty Hall problem, which Campbell solves successfully. Prof. Rosa invites Campbell to join his blackjack team led by Rosa, which consists of young men Choi and Fisher, and women Jill Taylor, played by Kate Bosworth, and Kianna. The system involves card counting, and the team is split into two groups: The "spotters", who play the minimum bet, keeping track of the count, and sending secret signals; and the "big players", who place large bets whenever the count at a table is favorable. Campbell is reluctant to join at first, but eventually relents, with the caveat that he will stay on the team only long enough to pay for his tuition. After weeks of intensive training, Campbell is given a final live test at an underground casino. He passes the test and is assigned to be a big player.Prof. Rosa (sometimes referred to as "Micky") takes the team to Las Vegas where Campbell begins to realize the joys of a new lifestyle. Campbell's performance impresses Rosa, but eventually provokes jealousy in teammate Fisher. One evening, a drunken Fisher sits at Ben's table and starts talking about the "retard" in Rain Man, who won by counting cards. He then incites a melee when he spills a drink on another player at the table. Mr. Rosa kicks Fisher off the team and sends him home. All the while, security chief Cole Williams, played by Laurence Fishburne has been monitoring the blackjack team, especially Campbell. Campbell, meanwhile, falls for Jill, culminating in the pair sleeping together in Las Vegas.Back at MIT, Campbell, because he is distracted by the blackjack, botches his part of a university project with his friends for the 2.0.9 competition. His friends angrily tell him that they will do the project themselves, with Campbell feeling that the project is not important anymore. On his next trip to Las Vegas, Campbell is emotionally distracted and continues playing even after he is signaled to walk away. An angry Micky Rosa storms out on the group, promising that Campbell will reimburse him for the $200,000 loss. Campbell and his three remaining teammates bankroll the rest of their money and agree to go into business for themselves. Micky, believed to have gone back to Boston, instead stays and rats out the M.I.T. team to casino security Cole Williams, who finds and apprehends Campbell and takes him to a secluded basement, where he beats him. Coleman releases Campbell with a threat and a dire warning.Campbell returns to MIT only to find a letter telling him that he received an incomplete for one of his classes and therefore won't graduate. At the same time, he discovers that his winnings have been stolen from his dorm room. Campbell suspects that Micky Rosa is behind everything, but cannot prove it, so he makes Rosa an offer: Campbell and the team will hit Las Vegas for one final big score before the casino installs biometric software, as long as Rosa joins the team. Mr. Rosa agrees.Dressed up in disguise, the team returns to Planet Hollywood's Vegas casino. They rake in over $640,000 before security chief Williams, along with a security team, finds them and gives chase. The team members quickly bag their chips and then flee through the casino. Ben has the bag of chips which he reluctantly gives over to Mickey as they decide to split up and meet later at the Foxx Strip Club. As the rest of the team is still being chased inside the casino, Mickey dives into a waiting limo and yells "airport" to the driver. It is obvious Mickey has no plans on going to the Foxx Strip Club. As he smiles with glee and dives into the bag of chips, he discovers the chips are actually hotel chocolates that are shaped just like casino chips. This is in part a reference to an earlier scene in the movie during which Choi shows his tendency to steal things by compulsively stealing a large number of hotel chocolates (the fake chips) from an unattended maid cart.As the movie backtracks, we learn that Campbell and the rest of the team the whole time had a plan not only to make themselves a great deal of money but also to deliver Micky Rosa to Cole Williams. Early in the chase in the casino, Campbell and Jill get separated from Micky briefly, during which time Jill hands Ben the bag of chocolates as he hands her the bag of real casino chips, which she puts in her pocketbook. We also learn that security chief Cole Williams and Prof. Micky Rosa actually have a long history of playing cat and mouse in Las Vegas together. One night, while Cole was at his father's funeral, his casino got taken for seven figures. This event led to the firing of Cole and thus the grudge he holds against Micky.It is revealed that Williams made a deal with Campbell: Williams would let Campbell come to Las Vegas for one last night to make a lot of money in exchange for Rosa. However, Williams, gun in hand, confronts Campbell on his way out and demands the bag of chips. Back in the casino, Williams informs Rosa that he also has a friend who is "good with numbers, but he works for the IRS."The movie is told in the narrative voice-over POV of Ben Campbell. When Jill and Ben return to the casino, they not only meet the rest of the team, they also meet his two best friends from Boston with whom he had entered the 2.0.9. competition. Campbell says of them, "they were pretty good at basic math too." Campbell's summation is that getting his friends back, having really good life experiences, and hooking up with "the prettiest girl in school," were all worth much much more than all the money they had made counting cards. The movie closes with Campbell recounting the tale to the scholarship administrator, who looks back at him, "dazzled".

Tags: revenge

Review:
Slick camera work and some good performances rev up the technical quality of this fact-based story about a 21 year old MIT student named Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) who, along with his brainy Ivy League chums, travels to Vegas to win tons of money at the blackjack tables.
And in the process, the shy, cautious Ben, who only wants the money for tuition costs, morphs into his alter ego, a person quite unlike his original self.The film's pace starts off leisurely, then alternates between fast-paced Vegas casino action and periods of downtime wherein Ben and his girlfriend, fellow conspirator Jill (Kate Bosworth), talk shop and take in the high life.
Some people may criticize Spacey for his 'gusto', but I believe his portrayal of Mickey was stellar.The movie had suspense, a solid plot line, scattered funny scenes, and a good ending.
A slow start gives the necessary exposition as to how a thoroughly ethical young MIT student (Sturgess)'s desperate need for money to attend Harvard medical school leads him to join a team of mathematical geniuses trained in blackjack card counting who routinely rip off Las Vegas casinos during weekends between class.
Lawrence Fishburne adds class, much needed dramatic weight and moments of grim humour to his antagonistic burly head of casino security, gradually catching on to the MIT team's scamming.While the age old adage of 'style over substance' certainly holds true here, 21 may essentially epitomize the modern Hollywood crime caper film, but the formula hasn't quite run dry enough to overly detract from the enjoyment factor.
It is a reasonable well-made based-on-a-true-story film that tells the story of a group of MIT students who attempt to make a fortune counting cards in Vegas.
Then we meet our leading actor Ben something, the singing frog of the movie "Across the Universe", as a very sharp-witted campus kid trying to persuade the dean of the Harvard Medical School to access student scholarships.A gambler gang of campus kids leading by Kevin Spacey drives Ben and the others' -including Kate Bosworth as another campus kid- minds over gambling in Las Vegas by means of proved mathematical methods of counting cards.
It consists of watching endless amounts of hands of blackjack which is the most boring card game probably to watch ( I play poker so I am probably biased but I wasn't the only one who said this of the people I was with.) I also found the main character to be annoying with just how awkward he was I dislike all characters in movies who are awkward this always disturbs more than mild violence because I probably can relate to it better.
i felt the main character tried way to hard to achieve this role if your looking for a gambling movie definitely just re-watch the classic Rounders..
He learns the technique of counting cards and goes to Las Vegas every weekend to make money and enjoy the high roller life at the same time.The premise of the story sounds very interesting.
Based on what I've read about the movie's background since watching it, I think I'd describe that as "very loosely based ..." Essentially, the story is about an MIT student (Ben, played by Jim Sturgess) who needs $300,000 to attend Harvard Medical School.
Then , along comes one of his math professors (Kevin Spacey), who turns out to be a former gambler who's developed a system for counting cards in Blackjack and then recruits the best and brightest students at MIT to be his team - he teaches them the system and they fly to Las Vegas repeatedly to gamble and share their winnings, until they get caught.Setting aside the Hollywood deviations from the "true story," I just didn't find this to be all that interesting, nor did I feel any particular sympathy for or closeness to anyone, except maybe Ben's two former best friends, who essentially get the brushoff from Jim once he's embraced his new lifestyle as a high roller.
You'll get almost the exact same movie, with better acting, a better presentation from a film made with less money by a better company at likely less than the cost of a theater ticket.Even Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne aren't enough of a saving grace to make 21 a decent watch to me and many of my film loving compatriots.
The plot is great, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne all deliver stellar performances, and unlike many movies of this genre it has not been dumbed down beyond all recognition.In short, the story has been Hollywood-ized, and large elements of the plot have been changed, but as a fictional movie, it rocked..
Unfortunately for audiences going to see the new movie "21," the producers of the film didn't adhere to that all important Vegas slogan that gives reprieve to the city of sin: "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." In the case of the new movie that follows a team of Blackjack card counters, the story should've been left alone in the book it was based on and never graced the silver screen.
In fact, the only redeeming quality of the film was the end, which came only after an excruciatingly slow two hours.The story, based on the bestselling book "Bringing Down the House," hinges on Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) as a quiet MIT undergraduate who lacks the resources to attend Harvard Medical School.
The team features four other students, including Ben's schoolboy crush Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), and is lead by MIT professor Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey).
Luketic devotes so much of the 2 hour running time trying to build up Ben's world to the audience that the money making card counting scheme gets relegated to slow motion montage.There was little that I enjoyed about "21" save for the bright neon lights of the Las Vegas strip making for some beautiful shots of the glowing city.
Its beautifully shot with some spectacular cinematography but like a lot of 2008 outings 21 is a good looking dud that pilots down the runway but never takes off.Director Robert Luketic adapts Ben Mezrich's best-seller Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions to tell the true-life tale of six genius students who used their brains to beat considerable odds.
Recruited to join a team of extremely gifted students who have used their mastery of numbers to beat the odds at blackjack, Ben procures a fake identity in order to join the casino scammers and their brilliant leader -- eccentric math professor and stats genius Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) -- in some highly profitable weekend excursions to Las Vegas.
Counting cards isn't illegal, and by using a complex series of signals, this team has cracked the code.Of course, it doesn't take long for Ben to become seduced by the glamorous Las Vegas lifestyle, and the attention afforded to him by his sexy teammate teammate Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth) finds him pushing his luck to the absolute limits.
I could criticise the one-dimensional characters, the irritating soundtrack, or a Kevin Spacey who came across as an actor who was busy saying his lines, while concentrating on something else entirely, but there's something even more seriously wrong with this film, and it's this: The whole foundation for the movie is blackjack card-counting, yet isn't it astonishing that the fundamental theory for this is never explained.
It's another story about people beating the powerful gambling houses in Las Vegas at their own game.The movie's line, "It's counting, not gambling!" should read, "It's futility, not science." The counting key cards idea is neither effective nor new.
It felt nice to have to use your brain a little to figure something out, but as I was reading other posts (comments) I learned that what I had figured out on my own was very primitive and much more elaboration would have made things clearer and given the movie a little more edge - although its pretty round edged to me.Why would the MIT professor be so cruel and mean and cold, to the point that he had to call the casino security which results in the beating of one of his "brilliant" students who had made him tons of money.How could that same professor so quickly be convinced in a scene of about 1 min and 45 seconds to go back to the table and play a "last round" with the same student he had screwed over and so openly called as a cunning genius...
The introduction to card counting is fairly interesting, although I think the method outlined here is probably rather simplified to allow cinema audiences to follow it.A major problem for the film is that Blackjack simply isn't a much of a spectator sport; poker may not be all that great to watch if you're not playing, but at least you can craft some drama from the to's and fro's of a hand.
Forget about it - it's just too simple a game.Since the game isn't all that interesting, the film must rely on the characters, and while Jim Sturgess is good enough in the lead role of the student who takes part reluctantly only to raise funds his doctorate before being seduced by the easy money, reminding me here a bit of Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal, none of the others ever rise much beyond a cardboard cutout - including Kevin Spacey, who has precious little to do here as the professor.
The other gambling students are shallow and unlikeable, whereas Sturgess' old friends are geek stereotypes straight out of Weird Science.One flaw that really stuck in my mind was that for all the talk of the need to be surreptitious and under-the-radar of the casinos, the students go out of their way to get noticed, going crazy Vegas-style repeatedly, and employing ludicrously obvious signs to each other, never once varying them - if they wanted to get noticed by the casino security people they went exactly the right way about it.
The film is based on the true story of a group of MIT students who use their math skills to "beat the house" at blackjack in the Las Vegas casinos.
But the show belongs to Kevin Spacey as professor Mickey Rosa, mastermind behind the escapade, and Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell, the reluctant recruit who drives the film as it barrels headlong to a breathless climax.The script is clever, funny, and worthy of math geeks everywhere, and the widescreen action is as nonstop as that on the casino floor.
Sturgess, a Brit playing an American here (quite well, by the way), proves that he is destined for stardom in the States.In the intro to the screening, Luketic explained how Spacey had bought the rights to Mezrich's book, leading to his having to fight to win the actor over and let him direct the film.
But his luck quickly changes, when he is asked by college professor Mickey Rosa(Kevin Spacey), and some other MIT students including the beautiful Jill Taylor(Kate Bosworth) to help them count cards in Las Vegas.
But how deep was my disappointment, I cannot describe.Poor acting, 1000 cliché scenes, predictable ending and horrible story, this movie cannot get more than 3 of 10.I can only imagine, what must have Kevin Spacey as professor thought when the director asked him to accept the offer from Ben to come back to become BIG player again.
Straight A student Jim Sturgess at MIT is having a real problem, he's one of many geniuses trying to get into Harvard Medical School, the cost is going to be over $300.000.00 if he does not get a prized scholarship that several other geniuses are competing for.So it seems too good to be true when his advanced calculus professor, Kevin Spacey, let's Sturgess in on a little sideline he has going for him.
They too understand what is going on in 21, which is an ol' fish-out-of-water fable about smart people doing stupid things with lots of money at stake as an MIT kid (Srugess) with aspirations for Harvard med joins a group that goes to Vegas and stakes out hundreds of thousands per weekend by counting cards and hustling from table to table.
But one would hope that there would be something, ANYTHING, that would make this as something for them to distinguish, that the director &/or the script would give them something to do aside from filling in pat performances from at least a good few other parts they've played.As mentioned, Sturgess at least brings a little bit of interest to a character carved out of some sympathy as kid who gets in way over his head.
In this exuberant, smart and fast-paced drama/comedy, there is no denying that you can't have fun watching a hard working, but financially struggling kid, Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) become seduced by the wily king of card-counting Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey).
It is good to have thrown in such a veteran actor like Spacey into a mix of new comers like Campbell, Kate Bosworth or Aaron Yoo. Also Spacy produced the film, based on Ben Mezrich's autobiographical novel "Bringing Down The House" which chronicles the uprising and downfall of the group of card-counters.
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.
It has a young, attractive cast (Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth are, frankly, too beautiful to live), the gravity of experienced hands (devious Kevin Spacey and granite-like Laurence Fishburne), a cracking soundtrack (horrible remix of the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" aside) and, lest I forget to mention it, the backdrop of Las Vegas looks amazing.So, clichés aside, I really enjoyed "21"..
The only problem that I had with Jim Sturgess was that I didn't believe him as a card player..I mean maybe the point is that he's supposed to look like a dumb college kid sitting down at a table getting ready to lose some serious cash..but..if you've ever seen rounders Matt Damon studied poker and several things about playing cards for that role.
As I watched the movie I tried to forget that it was based on actual events so I would not be so focused on trying to believe some of the things the characters did that I am sure the real students did not do.
Loosely based on a true story (in real-life all of the mathletes were Asian) the film does stretch credibility at times, but Spaces is amazing and in one of his wonderfully acerbic and snarky roles, and the film has a hip feel to it, featuring cool songs by MGMT and Peter Bjorn & John, and Laurence Fishburne is a lot of fun as a glowering casino fixer type of character who's out to get Spacey over an old beef.
I think many of the reviews here are missing the point: I know nothing about betting on cards but, even if I did I would not be over-critical about the fidelity of the casino operations.It's fiction, folks: the idea behind the film might have been based on actual happenings but - it's still fiction.I'm a fairly hard marker about movies that rely on whiz-kid CGI and wanton destruction of expensive cars rather than sound screenplays but in this case I personally watched a presentable film, well acted and with a halfway believable plot line.
In reality, all of the team members counted perfectly and practiced this skill every day.I don't understand why they couldn't stick closer to the true story and I think it would have made a much better movie.I therefore highly recommend that anyone interesting in blackjack or gambling should read the book..
If you didn't know that "21" was based on the true story of a handful of MIT students taking Vegas for millions by counting cards in blackjack, you'd have no idea.
Not that it's not plausible, but the movie plays out so melodramatically, so predictably Hollywood, that it strips the story told in Ben Mezrich's book "Bringin' Down the House" of its uniqueness, its potential to show what happens when young aspiring college students get caught up in the other-worldly glitz and glamor of Las Vegas.
When his professor Micky Rosa (Spacey) discovers his mathematical genius, he enlists his help as a "business partner" training him to join his team of blackjack card-counting students who take weekend trips to Vegas to make bank.Ben is initially very resistant to the idea, saying a definitive no to a very tempting Kate Bosworth.
We see the varying hand gestures multiple times too, but at least they blend in a lot better than a blatant cut to that specific scene in the original montage.The story itself is a bit of a mess in that it plays out almost frame for frame like any other film with a young person looking to make money the quickest way they can (with an interesting, little-seen twist nevertheless), right down to the supportive mother and neglected friends.
This movie was very entertaining , the acting was great (I was impressed with all the characters especially Ben portrayed by Jim Sturgess), yet the movie can seem slow at times.