Minute44 - Dan Schonhaar

Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth
Directed by: Robert Luketic

Star MIT student, Ben Campbell (Sturgess) is offered the means to get all the money he needs to go to Harvard Medical School and much, much more by joining a team of card counters as they take Las Vegas for millions in Robert Liketic’s fun, stylish, yet slightly predictable caper.

What if Raymond “Rain Man” Babbitt had actually understood what he was doing, making all that money in Vegas? Imagine being able to calmly and inconspicuously count into 6 decks of cards so well that you could win big every single time you played blackjack? Well, personally, I think it would be pretty freakin sweet and I guess so did the 6 MIT students who actually did it. It’s these guys that inspired the book called Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich which was the basis for this movie. 21 follows Ben Campbell, a student who has been accepted into Harvard med but can’t actually afford the $300,000 it costs to go there. When Professor Mickey Rosa (Spacey) offers him a chance to join his team of card counters as they take Vegas, the money he needs seems within his grasp.

This film was pretty good to tell you the truth. It was entertaining and I can’t say there was anything really that badly wrong with any of the performances. There were some decent laughs too, indeed one guy in the cinema seemed to have huffed a load of Nitrous Oxide before he went in as he was laughing a disproportionate amount at things that were only slightly funny… A’la Robert Deniro in Cape Fear. Characters were likable, except the “bad guy” of course and I think good casting choices were made throughout. One character that does deserve a mention is Ben’s friend, Miles played by Josh Gad. He really reminded me of a less potty-mouthed version of Seth from Superbad, played by Jonah Hill so was pretty good at providing some of the comic relief. Kate Bosworth did an okay job as Ben’s love interest, Jill Taylor and, again, I have no real complaints.

The problems I had with it however do deserve a mention. Firstly it was really, quite predictable. By about half way through I pretty much knew what the ending was going to be. This wasn’t so bad as to ruin the film, however, because in movies of this type you sort of expect a modicum of predictability. The ending, although predictable was still satisfying. Also, the production seemed a little rushed. Like not a great deal of effort had been given to the finish of the whole thing. This observation could be based on other films with casino scenes that have kind of spoiled me. Ocean’s 11 is the obvious casino caper and that was executed with a lot more flare and style than 21. The other that comes to mind is Casino which, again displayed an excellent finish not seen in 21.

When put into perspective, you can kind of ignore those flaws though. Because when you look at Robert Luketic’s past work, you see thet 21 is a huge step forward for him. So all in all, 21 is a fairly enjoyable movie but not earth shattering. Check it out if you have an evening to kill and there’s nothing good on the TV.

Verdict: