21 (2008)

Director:

Robert Luketic

Writers (WGA):

Peter Steinfeld (screenplay) and
Allan Loeb (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 March 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Inspired by the true story of five students who changed the game forever.

Plot:

"21" is the fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings.

Plot Keywords:

Casino | Student | Professor | Harvard | Card Counting

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Jim Sturgess	...	Ben Campbell
Kevin Spacey	...	Prof. Micky Rosa
Kate Bosworth	...	Jill Taylor
Aaron Yoo	...	Choi
Liza Lapira	...	Kianna
Jacob Pitts	...	Jimmy Fisher
Laurence Fishburne	...	Cole Williams
Jack McGee	...	Terry
Josh Gad	...	Miles Connoly
Sam Golzari	...	Cam
Helen Carey	...	Ellen Campbell
Jack Gilpin	...	Bob Phillips
Donna Lows	...	Planet Hollywood Dealer #1
Butch Williams	...	Planet Hollywood Dealer #2
Ben Campbell	...	Planet Hollywood Dealer Jeff (as Jeffrey Ma)

Also Known As:

21 - The Movie (USA) (promotional title)
Untitled Blackjack Picture (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence, and sexual content including partial nudity.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-13 | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15 | Ireland:12A | Sweden:11 | UK:12A | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Canada:G (Québec) | New Zealand:M | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43290) | Germany:12 | Iceland:12 | South Africa:13V | Singapore:PG | Poland:15 | Brazil:14 | Italy:T | Greece:K-13 | Argentina:13 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Hong Kong:IIB | Taiwan:PG-12 | Malaysia:U | Norway:11 (theatrical rating)

Filming Locations:

Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

The main characters upon which the film 21 is based were Asian. Controversially, mostly Caucasian actors were cast. Jim Sturgess required a dialect coach to speak with an American accent.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ben meets with Mickey and the group for the first time, he explains the basic rules of 21 and deals himself a face-up card, then the camera cuts to Ben then back to Mickey and now Mickey's card is face down.

Quotes:

Miles Connoly: I've got some good news, though. I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

Soundtrack:

Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings, and Continuo in D minor, BMV 1043: I. Vivace

Nothing funny, nothing sensational, nothing joyful; perhaps a little interesting

Worth to watch for spectacular views from Las Vegas, the movie 21 starts with a "Maverick"ish gambler movie opening. Though, this movie is not even half good as Maverick. We initially see how Jack and Ace forms a lovely couple. Then we meet our leading actor Ben something, the singing frog of the movie "Across the Universe", as a very sharp-witted campus kid trying to persuade the dean of the Harvard Medical School to access student scholarships.

A gambler gang of campus kids leading by Kevin Spacey drives Ben and the others' -including Kate Bosworth as another campus kid- minds over gambling in Las Vegas by means of proved mathematical methods of counting cards. Ben, who must have swallowed a calculator, becomes the smartest one of all. We are witnessing our campus kids how actually they gamble with cheating over cards at a casino. Best thing of the casino scenes are the chance of getting know how the backstage of security cams goes. There are a bunch of technicians trying to catch whoever does cheating on the games.

The actual happenings of the story is hidden behind the script. Accordingly, it forces us to undone the knots. Yet regrettably, the search for straightening the story is just getting boring and boring until the end starts to occur, while leaving mentioned questions unanswered.

Thankfully at the final, knots are getting undone. For five minutes long, while Rolling Stones-You Can't Always Get What You Want is playing, we see how the life takes on shape for each character. Then we end up at where we started; back on the faculty dean's room, Ben is still talking to the dean. Whole movie has passed in this room, we realize. The dean looks persuaded by Ben for his scholarship.