This was a film that I really enjoyed. I think it did a very good job of showing what gambling can do to your life if you let it become your life. I also think that the actors did a very good job. I think we are going to be seeing a lot more of this Jim Sturgess, I've seen two movies of his recently and I have enjoyed his acting in both of them. Laurence Fishburne and Kevin Spacey were great as they usually are. The movie kept me interested and I loved the ending. Really good movie that I think many people would enjoy.
This movie could have been 30 minutes long and you would have gotten the same thing out of it. Everything moved too quickly without real reasons behind them. Even with the length of the movie, we knew nothing about the majority of the characters. An attempt to make an Oceans 11 style film went wrong.
Interesting way to play Blackjack! If I were only that lucky! :P But it was a good movie. I was expecting a more dramatic twist especially with great actors like Lawrence Fishbourne and Kevin Spacey. Needed more thrills, but all in all, it was not that bad. ;) Here I come, VEGAS!
This was a really cool and slick movie. I enjoyed watching it once the transition from workaholic student to card counting pro commenced. The whole cast were really enjoyable as well which makes this one a great watch.
21 is good entertainment but for anyone who has worked in the casino industry and knows that card counters are politely asked to leave and are then put on "the list," *and* those who know how the "Eye In The Sky" looks for specific behaviors and know that this team would never have got as far as they did, will have a hard time swallowing this. First, card counters, although they may work in teams, do everything they can to avoid being seen as a team. Here, they arrive together, drink and party together, hold meetings in the same room, all prohibited behavior for "pros." What blew my mind more than anything else was who ever heard of stashng cash in a dorm room ceiling?!!!! Well, I guess they were just kids. Not really any common sense here, even for the adults. I bump it up a half star merely for the entertainment value.
I swear, every movie I see him in, I love Kevin Spacey more and more. He plays such AMAZING assholes! Aside from that, the entire was pretty fantastic! It was entertaining, it was twisty, the cast was fun... I loved it!
A good solid movie about how to do a system for blackjack in Vegas. This time an MIT student joins a group of fellow students just so he can earn 300k to go to Harvard Medical.
Ben Campbell is a shy, brilliant M.I.T. student who--needing to pay school tuition--finds the answers in the cards. He is recruited to join a group of the school's most gifted students that heads to Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack in their favor. With unorthodox math professor and stats genius Micky Rosa leading the way, they've cracked the code. By counting cards and employing an intricate system of signals, the team can beat the casinos big time. Seduced by the money, the Vegas lifestyle, and by his smart and sexy teammate, Jill Taylor, Ben begins to push the limits. Though counting cards isn't illegal, the stakes are high, and the challenge becomes not only keeping the numbers straight, but staying one step ahead of the casinos' menacing enforcer: Cole Williams.*
21 Follows Ben Campbell Who Finds Himself Recruited By MIT's Most Gifted Students In A Daring Plot To Break Vegas. With The Help of A Brilliant Statistics Professor, Ben Succeeds In Breaking The Casinos And Must Earn Enough Money To Pay For Med School. 21 Is A Phenomenal Film And The Years First Great Achievement. Robert Luketic Has Crafted A Classic And One of My Favorites. Kevin Spacey Is So Damn Good In His Role, A Brilliant Performance. Jim Sturgess Is Extremely Impressive Here, Kate Bosworth Is Beautiful And Stunning, And Laurence Fishburne Makes A Nice Appearance Here As Well. 21 Is One of The Most Enjoyable And Well Made Films Ive Seen Recently. A Superb Achievement. Brilliantly Made And Superbly Crafted.*
"I had a 1590 on my SAT, I got a 44 on my MCAT, and I have a 4.0 GPA from MIT. I thought I had my life mapped out, but then I remembered what my non linear equations professor once told me, always account for variable change... I let down my good friends, but as it turns out, they weren't too bad at simple math either. I scored the prettiest girl in school. I got beaten down by an old school Vegas thug who was having trouble accepting his retirement, but I worked out a deal with him that got him a nice pension... And I lied to my mother, but I confessed a lie and well, she still loved me... So my senior year of college I joined this team and I learned this new skill. I went to Vegas 17 times to use it. I made hundreds of thousands of dollars counting cards. And then I had it all stolen from me, twice... How's that for life experience professor? Did I dazzle you? Did I jump off the page?"*
"The only thing worse than a loser is someone who won't admit he played badly."*
"Always account for variable change."*
21 Is Smart, Clever, Stylish, And Highly Enjoyable. A Film That Will Stay With You Long After Its Over. Exceptional And Extraordinary In Every Way Imaginable. A Compelling, Mesmerizing, And Spellbinding Experience. No Words of Mine Can Describe How Amazing This Film Really Is. Jim Sturgess And Kate Bosworth Are Very Impresssive Here And Have Become Some of My Favorites. Kevin Spacey Is Incredible, Like Always. Robert Luketic Has Finally Shown Us What He's Capable of. 21 Is A Winner. A Perfect Example of Truly Flawless FilmMaking. A Phenomenal, Incredible Achievement. I Love This Film! A Flawless Film...
The "true" story of a group of students from M.I.T. who, with their professor's teaching, learn to count cards and then take their knowledge to Vegas in the hope of making lots of money and getting away with it. If you want to learn a perfectly legal way to make some fast cash, pay attention, and you'll soon catch on to the tricks used by the group...look away and you'll be lost. There are better casino-heist movies out there [think the Ocean's series] but "21" is still pretty good. As they say in the undreground casinos of Chinatown: "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!"
Okay, it's not as bad as I said before, notably expressed with a low star-rating, but everything said before remains, with a few minor changes and additions.
Far from the worst film ever, but it's, I guess you could say, a guilty pleasure. Probably something to pass the time. The math stuff were interesting, but the story itself... meh, it's easily predictable, and yet still entertaining with a young hip cast who I don't know from other works (aside from Kate Bosworth) alongside big names like Kevin Spacey, who could somehow make the worst movies still a tad bearable, and a somewhat badass Lawrence Fishbourne -- he would've been more badass if the flick had enough balls to at least tiptoe around Martin Scorsese territory. The threats and tension are pretty much nonexistent in this universe where everybody easily forgives.
Yet when watching, I couldn't help but be even the slightest interested and gripped. The film is formulaic, sure, but it's all in good fun. Like I said earlier, it's a guilty pleasure. ^_^
The book is always better and it was. Kevin Spacey has done better movies, however it is a well rounded movie. If you like cards and Vegas you will like this one! Kate Bosworth is awesome and brings her sex appeal to the film. Highly recommended to see. Great concept, movie has typical storyline, kid wins a lot of money, then looses everything, then comes up with a way to win it back. Ending has a twist though which made the movie better. Girl Next Door with blackjack.
I am so glad that I didn't listen to critics when they said that this was a bad movie. I loved this movie! Jim Sturgess and Kevin Spacey made a great performance! plus...jim sturgess is hot and he's in my other favorite movie ACROSS TE UNIVERSE
MCT:July 25, 2008
MCT:July 25, 2008
MCT:July 25, 2008
MCT:July 25, 2008
MCT:July 24, 2008
MCT:July 24, 2008
MCT:July 23, 2008
