reviewed by Rissi Creviewed by Rissi C.
    

Numbers are straight-laced college student Ben Campbell’s (Jim Sturgess) specialty. He can add up the price of five items at the men’s clothing store where he works (including the sale discounts) and come out with the correct total. After a brilliantly conceived answer to a question from Professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), Ben is unknowingly drafted for a little game called blackjack to which there is a strategy to winning. Every now and then Micky and his group of four students, which includes Jill (Kate Bosworth), Choi, Jimmy, and Kianna, leave for Vegas and count cards, subsequently winning millions of dollars. Reluctant at first to join the group, Ben decides to join just long enough to earn the money he needs to go to medical school and in the process begins to lose himself, becoming more like the “rich” characters he plays in Vegas. Ben being the favorite causes hard feelings among other team members, and with his own emotions getting the better of him, its only a matter of time before his easy ride comes crashing down.

The whole premise of 21 is not moral and as such it can be difficult to be happy or root for the characters. What this film is turns out to be pure fun, much like the Ocean’s Eleven trilogy (not morally enlightening but fun). Based on a novel and true events, I can’t say how accurate it is but did read a little about the falsities and truths (for example there wasn’t a Professor Rosa). I’m certain that to make an otherwise boring story seem exciting, numerous liberties were taken. The screenplay was fairly well written, making for some nice comedy while other scenes manage to build decent suspense. A sad thing about 21 is the carefree, wild lifestyle it chooses to portray for the five lead characters. As Jill states, “in Vegas you can become anyone you want…” she is indeed proven right as normally responsible, bright Boston students become partying, carefree Vegas gamblers. While it doesn’t really surprise me, it was still annoying to see how the presence of money turned studious people into gamblers (both literally and figuratively). If there are some redeeming facts, they come in the form of the lessons learned; Ben is not able to get into school the easy way as he wanted, but must earn the life he wants. It also paints a grim picture of what money can do to a person; while it can make life “easier” for a time, it isn’t always for the better. We see the downward spiral Ben takes and how eventually it changes him as a person (so much so that he’d rather not go back to his previous life). He tells Jill that he’s still in the game for the love of it.

All the actors were well cast and turned in decent performances. Sturgess plays the “duel roles” of genius and rich alter ego effortlessly. Kate Bosworth had good chemistry with him and proved to be just as good in a serious role as in a fluffy romantic one. Laurence Fishburne plays casino security guard Cole Williams and if ever there was a villain I wanted to see on the receiving end of his own “torture,” he would certainly be it! Not so much for his methods but the way he does them (such as the deliberate, slow placing of rings on his fingers and smug expressions). From the first moment we see him, he’s unlikable, but when Ben is on the receiving end of his fist, I couldn’t have disliked him more. Still, in the end you have to “appreciate” what he makes Ben give up, because in the long run, it “saved” him and taught him a better life lesson while giving him an opportunity to fairly gain what he wanted. There are two scenes that show men being beat up while tied to a chair; we see blood all over their face. Profanity is sprinkled throughout the film. There is a brief sensual scene; lots of kissing and bare shoulders. Ben and his friends talk about not having girlfriends and having to “give sex up” for their schooling and homework. There are a handful of suggestive scenes at bars with pole dancers; we see men putting money in their costumes; occasional revealing clothing is worn. Drinking is heavily depicted and several scenes take place at bars. Ben lies to his mother about school.

If nothing else, font-style:normal">21 is an entertaining way to spend the evening; it is fast moving and even has an unexpected twist before all is said and done. Beneath all the wrong decisions and paybacks there are some valued lessons underneath the obvious and while unspoken, it’s implied that each of the characters are no longer gambling with their futures. It is entertaining but shouldn’t be taken seriously.