"21" Review - Written by TonyD

“21”
2008
***½ out of ****
Director: Robert Luketic
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth


You can never go wrong with a movie like “21.” No matter how bad it is, it will always been enjoyable. If you bring two hundred dollars with you to Vegas to gamble away and come home with nothing, there is a good chance that you will be either depressed or say that you had a fun time. It goes without saying that if you take a trip to Vegas in “21,” you will either be disappointed or you will have fun. Hell, maybe both.

I’d hate to say that “21” is a perfect movie, because it is the farthest thing from it. Lord knows how biased this review is. My favorite actor of this day of age (Jim Sturgess), the new and improved Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth, one of the greatest actors that are breathing today (Kevin Spacey), and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) could always get a great kick out of me. Imagine them all in ONE whole movie? It’s like a splitting fucking orgasm!

And “21” is a splitting fucking orgasm. An orgasm of FUN. I don’t think that anyone can have as much fun as I had with this film. I expected a lot from this film, and I sure as hell wasn’t disappointed. “21” gave me a lot of enjoyment, enjoyment that I didn’t receive from “Superhero Movie,” and just a little bit more enjoyment from “Run Fatboy Run.” All I asked for in this movie was enjoyment. It is something that a movie hasn’t given me since “The Signal” – complete satisfaction.

“21” tells the tale of Ben Campbell, (Jim Sturgess) a gifted student at MIT. He has a way of numbers, and he is definitely the kind of guy that you want to be doing your homework. His problem is that he dreams about going to Harvard Medical School, but there is no way that he can get three-hundred thousand dollars for his tuition. Ben is invited to be a part of a group of card-counters that go to Las Vegas on weekends to make money. What these people do isn’t to gamble, but to make money. The group, ran by Mr. Rosa, (Kevin Spacey) is shown the ins and outs to the game of blackjack, but how much is enough?

“21” is based on the book written by Ben Mezrich. The film was originally based on a true story where a few Asian men would go down to Las Vegas and count cards to become rich. Unlike these guys, Ben keeps insisting that once he makes his three-hundred thousand dollars, he’ll be leaving the group, but as Mr. Rosa and the super hot Jill (Kate Bosworth) keep informing him, that is what everyone says. They don’t know when to stop and gamble all of their winnings away. After he keeps winning and winning, Cole Williams, (Laurence Fishburne) the enforcer of all casinos, counts the cards and realizes what Ben is doing. Mr. Williams has a reputation of kicking ass. Whether or not it’s because he has anger issues isn’t really stated in the movie. I’d guess that, after watching that “Assault on Precinct 13” remake.

But anyway, “21” isn’t nearly the perfect movie that I may make it out to be. It’s just a lot of fun. Some people are going to hate it for the same reasons I like it. It’s slick, it’s hip, and it’s cool. It is the “Ocean’s Eleven” without actually being illegal. And I loved it. But there are a few faults here and there.

It’s going to kill me to admit this, but Jim Sturgess, probably one of the best actors working today, is strongly miscast. The man is English, and he is playing an American character. He does a good job at his role, but he can’t do an American accent. He’s tried it here, and he only falters. Traces of an English accent are accidentally used in the film. He does a good job here and I’ll respect him for that, but why cast an English actor in an American role is beyond me. But that’s Hollywood for you.

Another problem is that the climax isn’t as strong as the rest of the movie is. Thankfully, it picks up at the end of the movie with its very own clever twist but the climax doesn’t really help. By the time that Fishburne and Sturgess meet each other for the first time (or shall I say, Sturgess and Fishburne’s fist), it becomes insanely dull. It picks up in the last fifteen minutes, Maybe it’s too late, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was just having fun, like everyone else in the theater.

But “21” certainly has likeable characters. If you have all seen “Across the Universe,” you know how Jim Sturgess can play a likeable character. Kate Bosworth does an equally great job fitting in with her character, with an insanely hot new look that is oozing me out of the world. Kevin Spacey, while equally devilish in his own right, is likeable for most of the movie. The same can be said about Aaron Yoo, who won’t be receiving credit from anyone. Everyone is overlooking him, and that is truly a damn shame. He’s not the best in the film, but he has fun whenever he is on screen.

I don’t know if it is just me, but I had a lot of fun with the movie. It’s the kind of film that I would wait for DVD, but if you must see it in the theaters, bring tons of friends. It’s sure to be a movie that you will be talking about for a good time after it is over.