Thanks for all the rates - if you read one of my reviews, then I will return the favour! Would appr...
Thanks for all the rates - if you read one of my reviews, then I will return the favour! Would appreciate any reads of my Flashforward review - it came through too fast!
Member since:10.01.2009
Reviews:102
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21
I don't know what it say about me, but I like films were people beat the system, for example Ocean's 11, Inside Man etc and so I was looking forward to this film for a while. Even more so because the film is based upon fact. 21 is based on the book 'Bringing Down The House' by Ben Mezrich.
What's it all about?
The film is centres on the character of Ben Campbell played by Jim Sturgess. He is a student at MIT in Boston, who desperately wants to get into Harvard Medical School to become a doctor. The film opens with him being interviewed for a scholarship there, as paying is out of the question.
The interview doesn't appear to be going so well, but then the story turns to Ben in maths class and here his natural ability shines. So much so, that he draws the attention of his lecturer played by Kevin Spacey. He is invited to an extra curricular maths class with a difference; when he arrives he realises that a group of four other exceptional
students are being trained by Professor Rosa (Kevin Spacey) to count cards at Blackjack. The plan is to work as a team and make a killing in Vegas, whilst going undetected.
Ben is reluctant to join in at first, believing it must be too good to be true and worrying about the dangers of being caught. He says he is not interested. However, he does join the group and learns to count card and all the signals that go with it. They hit Vegas and it is at this stage that the story heats up...
Opinion
Whilst this film is no masterpiece, I certainly enjoyed it. The first thing I will say is that looking back I enjoyed the first and final scene and how they fitted into the story as a whole. I thought that this was a clever part of the narrative. I read information about Jim Sturgess after watching the film and discovered that he was English! He is a graduate of Salford University yet 'gets' the American accent brilliantly. I have to say that he scarily reminded me of Toby Maguire in Spiderman and delivered his lines in the same, quiet understated way. He was totally believable as a maths genius, who is working class and struggles with his conscience, when he decides to go down a dodgy route. I will look forward to seeing him in more films to come.
I also enjoyed the scenes where they learned how to count cards and the system they needed to communicate with each other.
Kevin Spacey was excellent and perfect for the role of professor with a slightly twisted dark side; totally arrogant and in complete control. I couldn't think of anyone more suitable to play this role.
I haven' t get mentioned the security in Las Vegas; the scary guys who are watching, studying and waiting to catch cheats and thieves. Here the boss is played by Laurence Fishburne and you know straight away that he is going to be the fly in the ointment.
Overall, to say the film had quite an adult theme about it, the danger and the violence wasn't menacing nor as strong as I though it might have been, given the level of deception involved in trying to cheat a casino. There are scenes of a cheat who was caught and what happened to him, but the violence was more suggestive than gratuitious, which was a refreshing change these days, where everything has to be so graphic.
The supporting cast was excellent and well put together and the emphasis between Ben and the rest of the crew was about right. This isn't a slick film in the same way that Oceans 11, 12 etc is, but still entertaining in it's own way. The plot is simple to follow and I would recommend giving it a go. The length of the film is just about right too. I also liked the used Ben narrating his story from time to time, which I think was a nice touch.
One of the main questions I was left with after the film, was how much of the story was fact and how much was artistic license - this is something I would like to find out more about and so may order the book. The only criticism is a boyfriend, girlfriend part of the story that I thought detracted from the story as a whole.
The soundtrack was catchy and had some good songs, which were in keeping with the college age of the actors.
I will give this film 4 out of 5 overall as I found the story and the acting quite entertaining.
Quotes: "Winner winner, chicken dinner" - Ben Campbell
Availability
I watched this film on Sky so don't have any knowledge of the dvd extras, but it is available from Amazon for £3.98, which isn't such a high price to buy, considering the cost of rental.
It is rated certificate 12.
It lasts 112 minutes and is produced by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1998 - Drama - Director: Carl Franklyn, Carl Franklin - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Meryl Streep, William Hurt, Renee Zellweger, Tom Everett Scott, Nicky Katt, Lauren Graham
Production Year: 2007 - Drama - Director: Mike Binder - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, Donald Sutherland, Mike Binder
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
I enjoy films/programmes with anti-heroes beating the system too, although I wouldn't fancy attempting those things myself - far too risky and stress-inducing!
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