21: The Movie

21: The Movie (2008).

(from wiki)

21 (also referred to in advertising as "21: The Movie") is a 2008 drama film from Columbia Pictures. It stars Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, and Laurence Fishburne. The film is based loosely around the story of a 1990s incarnation of the MIT Blackjack Team.

The film draws from Bringing Down the House, the best-selling book by Ben Mezrich. The film will be released on March 28, 2008.

Plot

Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is an MIT student who ? needing to pay school tuition ? finds answers in counting cards. As a superior math and statistics student, he is recruited to join a group of mathematically-gifted students that heads to Las Vegas every weekend with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack in their favor. Unorthodox math professor Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey) leads the way. By counting cards and employing an intricate system of signals, the team can beat the casinos. Drawn by the money, the Vegas lifestyle, and his teammate, Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), Ben begins to push the limits. Though counting cards isn?t illegal, the stakes are high, and the challenge becomes not only keeping the numbers straight, but staying one step ahead of the casino's menacing enforcer, Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne).

Cast

* Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell, the protagonist, an MIT student incredibly good with numbers but in need of money, who becomes a member of the blackjack team. Based on Jeff Ma.
* Kevin Spacey as Mickey Rosa, math professor and the founder of the blackjack team. Based on a composite of J.P. Massar and Johnny Chang
* Kate Bosworth as Jill Taylor, a member of the blackjack team. Based on Jane Willis.
* Laurence Fishburne as Cole William, a casino security agent who becomes determined to take down the team. Based on employees of Griffin Investigations
* Aaron Yoo as Choi, a member of the blackjack team.
* Liza Lapira as Kianna, another blackjack team member
* Josh Gad as Miles Connoly
* Jacob Pitts as Fisher, another blackjack team member. Based on Mike Aponte
* Jack McGee as Terry
* Roger Dillingham, Jr. as Head Bouncer

Casting of Caucasian/Asian

Although the four main characters in Bringing Down the House were Asian-Americans in real life, studio executives have cast mostly white actors to portray them in the film. Ben Mezrich, author of Bringing Down the House, has noted a "stereotypical" casting process on the part of Hollywood. In the book, Mezrich explicitly states that a young white man betting large amounts of money stands out, while a young Asian or other minority would be less conspicuous. Asian Week called the casting a "whitewash," pointing out that if it were black people replaced by white people, there would be more vocal protest. Two of the main characters from Bringing Down The House, Kevin Lewis and Jason Fisher, are in real life Jeff Ma and Mike Aponte. There is also a group calling for a boycott to the film.

Jane Willis has kept her card-counting a secret for years. But with Kate Bosworth portraying her in the new film '21,' she's ready to talk about her blackjack-playing exploits of the past.

"Jeff would occasionally have an expensive bottle of wine or champagne, and it didn't make a whole lot of sense. Then he told us about Vegas," Willis says. "I think it dawned on him that we could play blackjack and also give the team, which was mostly Asian and male, a little diversity."

TV

Several TV programs have been based upon Ben Mezrich's books 'Bringing Down The House' and 'Busting Vegas'. The BBC's Horizon strand, in January 2006, released 'Making Millions the Easy Way' - a documentary exploring the advanced methods used by a Strategic Investments breakaway group, the Amphibians - revealing the beautifully simple science behind their winning formula, and revealing the 'David and Goliath' style battle of measures and counter measures that ensued between Counter and Casino.

Promotions

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This is based on a book I've long wanted to read.

 

21 Movie Review from the New York Times.

With Assist From Greed, Money Makes the Man

Article Tools Sponsored By
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: March 28, 2008

Greed is good and comes without a hint of conscience in ?21,? a feature-length bore about some smarty-pants who take Vegas for a ride. Loosely based on the nonfiction book ?Bringing Down the House? by Ben Mezrich, and adapted for the screen by Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb, this bankrupt enterprise asks you to care about a whiny M.I.T. moppet, Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess, serviceable), who because he can?t afford Harvard Medical School (boo hoo), starts counting cards to rake in some serious cash.

The conduit to Ben?s journey of counterfeit self-discovery is a racially, ethnically, sexually balanced gang of other greedy bright things (the most appealing being Aaron Yoo, wasted as the kooky, sexless Asian guy), run by an equally avaricious math professor, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey on autopilot). Using a system of mnemonic devices, goofy hand signals and a talent for numbers, the team has devised a way to beat the bank. (In Las Vegas, Laurence Fishburne and his knuckles will have something to say about that.) Because Ben doesn?t want to use his poor widowed mother?s savings to go to Harvard, he decides to ditch his qualms if not his sense (because he really has none) and signs on.

And so it?s off to Vegas they go, where they count the cards, take the money and run. Amid the din and glare of various casinos, the director Robert Luketic, whose credits include ?Legally Blonde,? engages in other dodgy business: he cribs from Wong Kar-wai?s ?Chungking Express? period (Ben sits motionless as the world races by); borrows from the David Fincher of ?Fight Club? (camera tricks for kicks); lifts from Martin Scorsese?s ?Casino? (throw the money in the air like you just don?t care); and pays homage to universal whoredom by restaging the ?Pretty Woman? shopping montage. He also tosses in some gleaming rides, a couple of PG-13 pole dancers and a Rolling Stones remix that both Dad and the kids can enjoy.

Ben ogles the chintzy glamour and the chesty blondes spilling out of their dresses, and the movie does exactly the same. He particularly likes it when his skinny school crush, Jill, clambers aboard and offers him a lap job, for which I hope the young actress Kate Bosworth was well compensated. Like everything else in ?21,? Jill can be bought for the right price, as of course can Ben and, by extension, us. The filmmakers try to soften this idea mostly by furnishing Ben with a sob story. They turn his desire to attend Harvard into something tantamount to an inalienable right, one that?s impervious to ethical standards or personal morals, which means that ?21? is either a very cynical or a very smart take on the power elite.

?21? is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Most of the on-screen lust is for money.

21

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Directed by Robert Luketic; written by Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb, based on the book ?Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions? by Ben Mezrich; director of photography, Russell Carpenter; edited by Elliot Graham; music by David Sardy; production designer, Missy Stewart; produced by Dana Brunetti, Kevin Spacey and Michael De Luca; released by Columbia Pictures. Running time: 2 hours 3 minutes.

WITH: Jim Sturgess (Ben Campbell), Kate Bosworth (Jill Taylor), Laurence Fishburne (Cole Williams), Kevin Spacey (Micky Rosa), Aaron Yoo (Choi), Liza Lapira (Kianna) and Jacob Pitts (Fisher).

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Most of the reader reviews on the New York Times site say that the movie is not that great. I will try to watch it in the next week or so and will post what I thought about it then.

 

I saw it yesterday with a couple of friends. It was ok, but not great. To be honest, I was expecting something more along the lines of Ocean's 11 but with MIT students and card sharks. Instead what I got was something that felt like it was trying to be Good Will Hunting.

Having said that, however, Lawrence Fishburne is totally badass in this movie.

 

Topped the box office this week.

 

The title is to my liking, not that that is anything to analyze about.

 

I think I'll get around to seeing it this weekend. It looks interesting and even if it's not the greatest movie I think I'll probably enjoy it.

 

Let us know your opinion. I no longer trust critics as much as I did once.

 

Okay. I saw this movie finally last night and here is my review on it.

I thought that the beginning of the movie was a little slow (I believe that it takes a little over 30 minutes before Ben meets the card shark team). I thought the "Dazzle Me" scene at the beginning and the resolution at the end was great. I do not want to give away any more spoilers than that.

Otherwise, I thought that it was a pretty good movie. I thought Spacey's character, Mickey Rosa, was a little too convenient, but at least... (oops almost gave away another spoiler)... anyway, I liked what happened to him at the end.

I really liked the ending to this film. The only part that was cliche' was Ben getting... (oops almost another spoiler), anyway, it was an amazing movie that portrayed realistically what would happen to just about anyone who gambles.

If you want to know more, PM me, and I'll give you as many spoilers as you want. I give it *** of out ****.

 

I liked this movie. It's the best one I've seen this year. Great acting, fast-moving, fun plot. Go see it.

The book is not bad, either.

 

I still want to see this. But I can recommend the book without hesitation a very thrilling fast paced read. Also check out Busting Vegas by the same author.

 

I read the book about a year ago, it`s a very, very good read - one of those books you just can`t put down. The film is good, not quite as good as the book, but still pretty enjoyable.

One thing that annoyed me slightly about the film is that they didn`t really take the time to explain the "method" that was employed in the card-counting (eg some cards are "+1" and other cards are "-1"), whereas the book goes into this in depth. Also, the film centres entirely round Vegas while the book has them going round the country, to riverboat casinos etc.

But I did like the film, and Fishburne IS pretty bad-ass in it!

 

The book "Bringing down the House" is awesome. Although it's a non-fiction book, it totally reads like a fictional story.

As for the film, in comparison to the book it fall shorts for the reasons mentioned above. Additionally, the time period in which the movie and the book take place are years apart. The book takes place pre-9/11 and technical databases and face recognition software in the Vegas casinos. Thus, allowing the M.I.T. students to hit Vegas every weekend for a couple of years bringing home tons of money. Moreover, the book points out that in the U.S. the law protects the player and not the casinos so there would be any basement beat downs. As Benny Blanco mentioned above, the book didn't go into depth of the "method" and ploys of the M.I.T. students, such as, having a incredibly hot womon (who's part of the team) sit at the table to distract the "eyes in the sky" and pit bosses, and well as having three members of the team at a table: The Scout, Gorilla and Big Player (and the betting strategy of each). There are numerous other differences between the book and movie, but I don't have the time to go over all of them and I'm sure nobody would want to hear it anyway.

As for the movie, it was okay. Not great, but okay. Worth seeing on dvd but going to the theater? not so much as it's not Oceans 11 type film at noted above and there's not enough intrigued and amazement to stimulate the audience. But, when is it ever very entertaining watching M.I.T. kids use their minds?