Jason King21 (2008)
May 14th 2008 09:06
Category: No Category
21 (2008) $10-
It's sexy, it's slick, it has Kevin Spacey in it and Morpheus himself, Lawrence Fishburne, it also has the hottest new talent of the moment, and boy is he hot, Jim Sturgess. There is also the stunning Kate Bosworth. It's directed by Hollywood Golden Boy, Aussie Robert Luketic but boy oh boy this film is just flat! It is so predictable and formulaic that it failed to impress.
Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent, student at M.I.T. in Boston who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine with the desire to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 for the four to five years of school since he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor Micky Rosa into a small but secretive club of five students, Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Jimmy whom are being trained by Professor Rosa of the skill of card counting at blackjack. Intriged by the desire to make money, Ben joins his new friends on secret weekend trips to Las Vegas where, using their skills of code talk and hand signals, they have Ben make hundreds of thousands of dollars in winning blackjack at casino after casino. Ben only wants to make enough money for the tuition to Harvard and then back out. But as fellow card counter, Jill Taylor, predicts, Ben becomes corrupted by greed and his arrogance at winning which lets his feelings get in the way, and it also puts Professor Rosa, as well as the group, on the radar of a brutal casino security enforcer, named Cole Williams, who holds a personal grudge of some kind against Rosa which threatens to undo everything the students have learned and earned. Written by matt-282
I was looking forward to this movie so much as it's the follow up to Jim Sturgess' awesome awesome debut in Across the Universe. He had a small part in The Other Boleyn Girl, but the film was crap and he played a character who nearly sleeps with his sister, Elizabeth the firsts mom!! Look who is ruling us!! LOL. Anyway, wrong movie! Jim Sturgess is great, he is magnetic and you can't take your eyes off him (or is it just me), I find him totally believable as the maths geek turned super stunner gambling genius. Major controversy surrounded casting Jim in the lead role. Supporters of the decision to cast Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell claim that producers simply sought the best actor for the job, regardless of race - the majority of the characters from the "true story" book the movie is based on were Asian/American. Ultimately, this meant passing over many Asian-American talents in favor of London-born Jim Sturgess, who required a dialect coach to speak American English. MIT Blackjack Team member Jane Willis (who is Caucasian), upon whom the character Jill Taylor was based, elaborated upon how race and gender were an integral part of the team's dynamic. In recounting the story of when Jeff Ma introduced her to the MIT Blackjack Team, she said, "I think it dawned on [Ma] that we could play blackjack and also give the team, which was mostly Asian and male, a little diversity."
Kate Bosworth is just gorgeous and can act as well. BONUS. LOL. She is on the rise so watch for heaps more of her, she carries intelligence and beauty, a hypnotic combination on-screen and in general. You would know her from her big discovery in Blue Rush and of course as Lois Lane in Superman Returns. Spacey is just brilliant in everything he does. He is quite responsible in holding this film together and he should be - he has had the rights to the production for many years and bought the rights only 48hrs prior to Robert Luketic attempting to buy them. Luketic actually forgot about the film for years until Spacey contacted him and asked if he would be interested. It was destiny for him to make the film.
Factual inaccuracies care of Wikepedia.
* In the film, "spotters" stayed at the blackjack table continuing to play after the "big player" joined the game. The reasoning given was so that the spotter could help keep the card count, in case the big player became distracted, and also to be the first line of defense to warn the big player should trouble arise (e.g. casino personnel becoming suspicious). According to real life accounts, the spotter would leave the table soon after signaling the big player that the deck was hot (i.e. the card count was good). This was done so as to allow a greater chance for the big-betting player to receive winning cards, as more players at the table would lower this probability.
* Many details related to casino game protection mechanisms were simplified or incorrect. "Biometric software" seems to have stood in for a wide array of new technologies that are changing the nature of game protection. The diminishing need for human evaluation of play at the tables appears to have been overemphasized in the film compared to real-world casino practice.
* Jeff Ma — the basis for the character of Ben Campbell — did not play to finance a medical school tuition, but like much of the team, is said to have played for the sheer thrill of beating the casino system.[citation needed]
* In the beginning of the film, Ben cycles toward MIT on the Harvard Bridge. In the next scene, he is instead shown cycling off Anderson Bridge which leads to Harvard's Kennedy School. Immediately after, he is shown arriving on MIT's campus. It appears that the filmmakers simply wanted to showcase the more photogenic qualities of the bridge at Harvard.
* After Ben and Jill leave the People's Republic they are seen having a conversation on a Red Line Train. In the wide shot, the destination display near the ceiling can clearly be seen to say that the train is "Express To Davis". However, city lights can be seen reflected in the windows behind them. The trip from Central Square (where the Republic is located) to Davis is entirely underground. Furthermore, when Jill exits the train, both the announcer and platform sign indicate that the train has stopped at Quincy Center. Davis is three stops North of Central, whereas Quincy Center is at the completely opposite end of the line. An express train to Davis would not have been headed in that direction, let alone stop at the station.
It is a shame that this film did not have more spark and excitement. It looks great on screen and everyone in it is fine. It could have been 20min shorter and had more character development. Also, the whole counting cards thing went straight over my head and I was a 4 unit maths geek at school for a year. The setting of Vegas is beautiful and the drive down the strip brought back memories but when I was 15 they didn't have parties this cool in sin city! Let me know what you think if you watch it. It's no Ocean's 11 or Fear and Loathing but it shits on Lucky You. Worth $10-
It's sexy, it's slick, it has Kevin Spacey in it and Morpheus himself, Lawrence Fishburne, it also has the hottest new talent of the moment, and boy is he hot, Jim Sturgess. There is also the stunning Kate Bosworth. It's directed by Hollywood Golden Boy, Aussie Robert Luketic but boy oh boy this film is just flat! It is so predictable and formulaic that it failed to impress.
Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent, student at M.I.T. in Boston who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine with the desire to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 for the four to five years of school since he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor Micky Rosa into a small but secretive club of five students, Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Jimmy whom are being trained by Professor Rosa of the skill of card counting at blackjack. Intriged by the desire to make money, Ben joins his new friends on secret weekend trips to Las Vegas where, using their skills of code talk and hand signals, they have Ben make hundreds of thousands of dollars in winning blackjack at casino after casino. Ben only wants to make enough money for the tuition to Harvard and then back out. But as fellow card counter, Jill Taylor, predicts, Ben becomes corrupted by greed and his arrogance at winning which lets his feelings get in the way, and it also puts Professor Rosa, as well as the group, on the radar of a brutal casino security enforcer, named Cole Williams, who holds a personal grudge of some kind against Rosa which threatens to undo everything the students have learned and earned. Written by matt-282
I was looking forward to this movie so much as it's the follow up to Jim Sturgess' awesome awesome debut in Across the Universe. He had a small part in The Other Boleyn Girl, but the film was crap and he played a character who nearly sleeps with his sister, Elizabeth the firsts mom!! Look who is ruling us!! LOL. Anyway, wrong movie! Jim Sturgess is great, he is magnetic and you can't take your eyes off him (or is it just me), I find him totally believable as the maths geek turned super stunner gambling genius. Major controversy surrounded casting Jim in the lead role. Supporters of the decision to cast Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell claim that producers simply sought the best actor for the job, regardless of race - the majority of the characters from the "true story" book the movie is based on were Asian/American. Ultimately, this meant passing over many Asian-American talents in favor of London-born Jim Sturgess, who required a dialect coach to speak American English. MIT Blackjack Team member Jane Willis (who is Caucasian), upon whom the character Jill Taylor was based, elaborated upon how race and gender were an integral part of the team's dynamic. In recounting the story of when Jeff Ma introduced her to the MIT Blackjack Team, she said, "I think it dawned on [Ma] that we could play blackjack and also give the team, which was mostly Asian and male, a little diversity."
Kate Bosworth is just gorgeous and can act as well. BONUS. LOL. She is on the rise so watch for heaps more of her, she carries intelligence and beauty, a hypnotic combination on-screen and in general. You would know her from her big discovery in Blue Rush and of course as Lois Lane in Superman Returns. Spacey is just brilliant in everything he does. He is quite responsible in holding this film together and he should be - he has had the rights to the production for many years and bought the rights only 48hrs prior to Robert Luketic attempting to buy them. Luketic actually forgot about the film for years until Spacey contacted him and asked if he would be interested. It was destiny for him to make the film.
Factual inaccuracies care of Wikepedia.
* In the film, "spotters" stayed at the blackjack table continuing to play after the "big player" joined the game. The reasoning given was so that the spotter could help keep the card count, in case the big player became distracted, and also to be the first line of defense to warn the big player should trouble arise (e.g. casino personnel becoming suspicious). According to real life accounts, the spotter would leave the table soon after signaling the big player that the deck was hot (i.e. the card count was good). This was done so as to allow a greater chance for the big-betting player to receive winning cards, as more players at the table would lower this probability.
* Many details related to casino game protection mechanisms were simplified or incorrect. "Biometric software" seems to have stood in for a wide array of new technologies that are changing the nature of game protection. The diminishing need for human evaluation of play at the tables appears to have been overemphasized in the film compared to real-world casino practice.
* Jeff Ma — the basis for the character of Ben Campbell — did not play to finance a medical school tuition, but like much of the team, is said to have played for the sheer thrill of beating the casino system.[citation needed]
* In the beginning of the film, Ben cycles toward MIT on the Harvard Bridge. In the next scene, he is instead shown cycling off Anderson Bridge which leads to Harvard's Kennedy School. Immediately after, he is shown arriving on MIT's campus. It appears that the filmmakers simply wanted to showcase the more photogenic qualities of the bridge at Harvard.
* After Ben and Jill leave the People's Republic they are seen having a conversation on a Red Line Train. In the wide shot, the destination display near the ceiling can clearly be seen to say that the train is "Express To Davis". However, city lights can be seen reflected in the windows behind them. The trip from Central Square (where the Republic is located) to Davis is entirely underground. Furthermore, when Jill exits the train, both the announcer and platform sign indicate that the train has stopped at Quincy Center. Davis is three stops North of Central, whereas Quincy Center is at the completely opposite end of the line. An express train to Davis would not have been headed in that direction, let alone stop at the station.
It is a shame that this film did not have more spark and excitement. It looks great on screen and everyone in it is fine. It could have been 20min shorter and had more character development. Also, the whole counting cards thing went straight over my head and I was a 4 unit maths geek at school for a year. The setting of Vegas is beautiful and the drive down the strip brought back memories but when I was 15 they didn't have parties this cool in sin city! Let me know what you think if you watch it. It's no Ocean's 11 or Fear and Loathing but it shits on Lucky You. Worth $10-
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Comment by Rix
Comment by Morgan Bell
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In regards to 21 I just think there is so much excitement playing the game in person but it just doesn't come across on film. And you knew everything that was going to happen. I appreciate you finally commenting Sammy!
Morgan - it isn't that bad and you might actually enjoy it on DVD. It was just missing some oomph - don't how else to describe it. Never watched the Las Vegas show so can't comment on that - although I love James Caan.
Comment by Jason King
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Should read "don't know how else to describe it"
I piss myself off with my grammatical errors! LOL
Comment by Morgan Bell
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orble hint: if you make sure you are logged in you can press the "modify" button under any comment you make to change a typo . . . and noone would ever be the wiser!
Comment by Jason King
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I just realised i can log in. Hahahahaha
I have never seen the delete or modify thing.
You are a sanity saver!!