21

Super

I can't remember the last time I played an old fashioned game of cards, including blackjack which was one of my favorites. My dad would play with me. I do remember the old Bugs Bunny cartoon when the "waskly wabbit" was gambling for gold via blackjack. He stood on only one card-which contained 21 hearts.

There is of course, no such type of fortuitous playing card in the movie "21" based upon Harvard alum Ben Mezrich's best seller, "Bringing Down the House: The story of six MIT kids who took Vegas for millions." And even if there was, it probably would not have prevented these geniuses from hitting sin city on weekends and make a killing at the blackjack tables of America's #1 gambling hot spot.

Ben Campbell (Across the Universe's Jim Sturgess) is a brilliant student enrolled at MIT. He has a 4.0 gpa , a 44 on his MCAT's and a seemingly uncanny ability to perform basic math functions without the aid of a pencil or calculator. But before making the triumphant leap to Harvard Med School, he needs a full scholarship ( it would be so nice if smarts and money were regular bedfellows) . "Three hundred thousand dollars for school, where am I going to get that kind of money?" Ben inquires of his pudgy friend Miles ,with whom he's working on a special science project for the 2.0.9. competition.

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The answer to his dilemma arrives courtesy of Kevin Spacey's MIT Professor Micky Rosa who teaches non-linear equations. During one class he instantly perceives Ben's intelligence and takes a big interest in him. Rosa moonlights as the leader of an elite team of students who have been taught, by him, the intricate method of counting cards in blackjack. The group heads to Vegas on weekends, sporting their talents under
Rosa's guidance bringing home huge amounts of money. He attempts to recruit Ben and he turns him down- at first. Then, thanks to the irresistible persuasion- and seductive beauty and charm- of fellow student Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth) who Ben has been drooling over, he changes his mind and plunges Ben into a world that starts changing his life.

You could regard 21 as the typical rags to riches story with an obligatory corruption angle. I mean ,who wouldn't be tempted to go beyond winning 300 grand for college tuition. Why not go for more? While Ben does alternate between being an ordinary Boston resident and a Las Vegas high roller, his cockiness slants toward either total abandonment or total redemption. As cliche as it looks, you know he has a decision to make.

The choice of Robert Luketic as the helmer of this drama was obviously questionable to Kevin Spacey. Luketic revealed in an interview that he had to beg him to direct 21, touting he was the right one for the job although his filmography is basically comedy (Legally Blonde, Monster-In -Law, Win a date with Tad Hamilton). Luketic was certainly the right choice, aptly applying his skills to another genre and eliciting the best from his cast without making them look 2 dimensional.

Whereas Ben certainly takes centerstage, writers Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb are careful not to give short shrift to the rest of the group; Choi (Aaron Yoo from "Disturbia"), Kianna (Liza Lapira) and most notably Laurence Fishburne's Cole Williams, an old fashion maverick security man who loves doing damage to those who count cards in his casino.

Las Vegas never looked so elegant before cinematographer Russ Carpenter's cameras. He captures the resilient energy and luminous grandeur of The Strip so well that if not for periodic close-ups, the cast would have to constantly compete for attention.

21 may increase some people's desire to gamble more playing blackjack, but prayerfully, those same individuals won't get addicted, play the game honestly and most importantly, avoid "risky business."