Jim's "Go or Don't Go" - 21

For most of this review, it may sound like I didn't like this movie, but I did. It's just when I can see what's coming in a movie, it's not the most inventive of scripts.

21 is supposedly based on a true story. I'm not sure how close to a "true story" it is - it's hard to imagine that real life could be as predictable as this movie. Hollywood likes to dress up real-life with cliches and predictable plot lines that they think will keep us entertained. Maybe the actual true story wasn't interesting enough for a 2 hour movie, but it seems to me that a group of MIT students and their professor figuring out a way to beat the system in Vegas would be interesting enough.

Jim Sturgess plays Ben Campbell, an MIT student struggling to keep his head above water. He works at a boring, low-paying job to help pay his bills and aspires to set himself apart to obtain a prestigious Harvard Medical School scholarship. Academically, he's a prodigy, but of course, he's nerdy and awkward. One of his professors, Kevin Spacey, takes notice of Ben's genius and recruits for his team of card-counting student savants. At first, Ben resists on ethical grounds, but with a little persuasion from a pretty girl that's part of the team (Kate Bosworth), Ben decides that he will join just long enough to pay for his education.

I won't bore you with all the details of how they figure out how to beat the system playing 21 (mostly because I'm not good with numbers and I really didn't understand it). Not to worry - you don't have to understand how they count cards to enjoy the movie. But if you're like me, you'll see it all coming... Ben gets swept up and gets in over his head... he usurps the team's leader and professor-favorite... he loses it all and gets it back... and you guessed it, he breaks the one rule stated earlier in the movie that you should never break.

Throughout the movie I never doubted that things would work out for Ben. Aside from a clever twist at the end, I knew what would happen along most of the way. I guess just because a movie is predictable, that doesn't mean that it's bad. A good cast doesn't hurt either, and in this case, everyone is, as Paula Abdul would so eloquently say, "on point." 21 does a great job of capturing the fast pace of the table games well - there are even cool, slow motion super-close-up shots of dice and cards.

21 won't surprise you, but odds are (ha, ha) that it will keep you entertained - I say "go."