21

[browntown653]

Card-playing flicks normally don't do well at the box office, so it was a bit of a surprise to see "21" rake in over $23 million last weekend. After seeing this movie, I'm more than a bit surprised. The movie is not particularly terrible, but it's just not good. It's not as entertaining as I expected and just mediocre all around.
"21" is the semi-true-story of Ben Campbell, a student at MIT who's planning to go to Harvard Med. Campbell's actually not a real person, but he's the film representation of Jeff Ma, who's Asian, not English, unlike Jim Sturgess who plays Campbell. Ma is the subject of the book "Bringing Down The House" which he movie is loosely, and I emphasize LOOSELY, based off. Campbell's gotta find a way to pay for Harvard Med and voila!, he gets inducted into a 5-student team that plays blackjack on weekends, headed by Kevin Spacey. Now, I know it's a film, but if the game is as simple as the team makes it seem, I don't know why everyone in the world isn't able to play blackjack. It just seems mind-numbingly simple. Anyway, when Spacey starts talking about how it's not illegal, you KNOW the gang is headed for trouble. Lawrence Fishburne is here, mailing this one in all the way to the bank, as a casino security guard who holds an old vendetta of his own. Campbell has to control his double life as an MIT student by week, Vegas high roller by weekend. This should seem more fascinating to me, but it never really caught my attention in the film.
The script and dialogue of "21" are weak and often predictable. The supposed comic relief from Ben's friends is never really that funny. Not that it's the fault of the actors, but of a bad script. It seems like somebody said "let's make a blackjack movie!" and banged it out in ten minutes. Yes, the story is based off true life, but some of the film is so implausible you know the movie's gone Hollywood. And the ending? Don't even get me STARTED on this implausible, ridiculous ending. I just couldn't believe my eyes when...well, I guess I shouldn't spoil it, but the ending sucks anyway.
As for the acting, Sturgess is passable as Ben Campbell. He's not great, but he plays the character fairly well. Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey are solid, but Lawrence Fishburne never really impresses me. It's a decent job by the cast and not their fault the movie sucks. Another thing to complain about here...you'd think a Vegas movie would be visually impressive, right? Somebody tell the creators of "21" to watch Ocean's 13, another recent flick, if you wanna know how to film the city. The card scenes with their rapid fire dealing, Jack of Spades CLOSE UPS, and quick tossing out of chips got irritating after a while.
Bottom line: Don't gamble your 10 bucks away by wasting your time on "21." If you're that interested, just wait until it comes out on DVD and rent it.

My Rating: 1.5 out of 4 stars

[NYgiantsfan5689]

movies about card playing never seem to be exciting, since it's hard to keep someone's attention on THE INTENSITY OF POKER. even casino royale had a hard time keeping my attention during the poker scenes. but that one at least picked it up in other areas