[DVD Review (R2)] 21
Any movie about Las Vegas which features people taking on a casino in any shape or form is, nowadays, going to be compared to Oceans 11. That was an entertaining and exciting heist movie, and the one that most other movies of that genre are now compared to. So, by dint of the fact that 21 features an ensemble of characters taking on a casino in Vegas, that is the yard stick that you would expect 21 to be measured by. But, I’ve got to be honest, once you start watching the movie you realise that it’s not really the same genre as Oceans 11 and it might just be unfair to compare this movie to that one.
That aside, though, does 21 score highly or is it just another annoying old gambler, trying to relive past glories, who really should be let out to pasture and ignored?
21 tells the story of a MIT student, called Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), who is a honest to goodness genius. He is acing his academic career at MIT and has been accepted into Harvard Med, the only problem being that going to Harvard Med will cost him $300,000. Obviously, he is going to have to work a lot of hours at his $8 an hour job to afford that one! Then one day during a maths class, he displays his genius for the teacher, Mikey Rosa (Kevin Spacey). The next thing Ben knows, he is being invited to a private class, where Rosa reveals that he is setting up a group of students to take to Vegas and count cards, which isn’t illegal (but is certainly frowned upon!), and make a fortune for himself and them.
At first Ben isn’t interested, but soon enough the lure of easy money, and attention of one of the other students, Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), convinces Ben to get involved and it’s not long before he is applying his genius to counting cards and is well on his way to falling deep into the world of gambling and easy money. But nothing in life is easy, and it’s not long before Ben realises that.
The first thing I will say, is that Jim Sturgess just doesn’t sell himself to me in this. He is watchable, and I would never say that his performance is “bad”, but I never truly belived that he was this genius that was able to count cards with such accuracy. I just don’t buy it, and that comes down to my biggest problem with the whole movie. He is good enough, but just doesn’t really fulfill the role the way he should have done.
Also, his chemistry with Kate Bosworth, who plays his romantic interest, is next to none. I never truly believed their relationship either.
Of course, that could well have been because in one scene she’s telling him that they’re collegues so shouldn’t sleep together and then in the next she’s humping his leg like a dog on heat! That was a character shift that just didn’t make any sense!
Speaking of Kate Bosworth, I really didn’t like her in this. Her acting is wooden, her chemistry (as I have already mentioned) with Sturgess is next to none and for some reason I just didn’t buy her as a student at MIT! Also, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was a lot older than Sturgess. A quick check on IMDB reveals that she is in fact 2 years younger than Sturgess (and six years younger than me!) and yet, I felt she was older. Odd.
Now, this might sound like I didn’t like the movie. Which really isn’t the case. Yes, I thought that Sturgess and Bosworth had zero chemistry. Yes, I didn’t fully believe Sturgess in the role of the genius MIT student. But there are some very good things about the movie.
Kevin Spacey, for one, seems to be having a great time. There are some scenes where is totally hamming it up, but he also delivers a quite chilling performance as the manipulative Professor Rosa. Laurence Fishburne, also, is pretty great in his central (but surprisingly small) role of the security chief of the casino that the team of students keeps on hitting. And there is also good support from Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira and Jacob Pitts as the other members of the blackjack team. And the movie does have a certain charm and energy, which really helps you to get dragged into the story.
There are still some problems with the movie, though. 21 is inspired by a true story, that’s something important straight away. While there are a certain amount of facts involved here, where a group of students from MIT went to Vegas and made an absolute fortune from counting the cards at the casino’s, we only get part of this on screen. Unfortunately, as it’s only “inspired by” there is a certain amount of liberty taken with the story and I still feel it would have been more interesting to have had a full account of what really happened rather than just a Hollywood-ised version of events. As it is, that’s what we have gotten and as such the movie follows a fairly well worn track. Because of this you do have a general idea of where the movie is going, but there is a certain amount of charm here, and as such you do end up forgiving a lot of it’s faults and just enjoying the ride.
But the knowledge that this could have been something special rather than just ok sits heavy on the movie. But, considering what director Robert Luketic has delivered in the past, this could have been oh so much worse!
Obviously, I mentioned Oceans 11 in the begining of this review and I do think it would be unfair to compare this movie with that one. There aren’t that many similarities between the two, apart from the fact they are both set in Vegas and have an ensemble cast, but if you are going to then Oceans 11 will come out on tops in every way, without a doubt. But that’s not to say that 21 is a bad movie, it really isn’t. It is a fun ride, it just won’t linger in your mind that long and it won’t displace Oceans 11 as the Vegas movie.
Special Features
Commentary With Director Robert Luketic & Producers Dana Brunetti & Michael De Luca: This is a fairly interesting and entertaining chat track. The relationship between the three paticipants is great to listen to and it’s obvious that they not only had a lot of fun making this movie but also really like it. They share quite a lot of information about the filming of the movie, and the background of it, and it’s a very easy chat track to listen to. And I love the way they tease a sequel at the end! I just hope they were joking!!
The Advantage Player: (5 min 13s) The young cast of the movie explain the “rules” of Black Jack and counting cards. Honestly, if you can follow this and make some money out of it, more power to you but at least it gives you some kind of idea of the theory behind how they made the money at the tables.
Basic Strategy: A Complete Film Journal: (23 minutes 45s) A look at how the movie came to made, explaining the genesis of the book that the movie was based upon and how it came to the attention of Kevin Spacey (who is one of the producers) and how they made, cast and filmed the movie, made up of “talking head” style interviews with plenty of behind the scenes footage. A very interesting look at the filming of the movie.
Money Plays: A Tour Of The Good Life: (6 minutes 45s) A look at the costuming and set design of the movie, with interviews with the cast and costume designers. If you like to look at how this sort of thing is done, then you’ll love this. For the rest of us, this is pretty much just filler.
While this is an entertaining enough movie, it never really seems to try too hard to take it to that next level. It’s decent enough, but you will have seen it all before, and chances are you’ll see it again. What lends it an extra edge is the fact that it is based on, or at least inspired by, true events but that’s also it’s greatest curse. The fact that the extras on the disc only go into the smallest detail about the real life events feels like a missed opportunity and really ends up doing the disc a disservice. If they had included some more about the real MIT students then that would have given the DVD at least an extra half popcorn, because the small snippets that we do get to see are fascinating. A real shame that they didn’t do this, as I think it would have added a whole other aspect to the movie, and in the end this is just an “ok” movie and not a “great” one, but the disc could have been a great one with some more, or better, extras but in the end that is just “ok” as well.
3 Responses to “[DVD Review (R2)] 21”
I stand by my remark made in Kris’ review for this:
“I got so burnt by Across The Universe that i instantly discounted seeing this coz the dude from that movie was in it. I’ll wait till its free on Film4 or unless it turns up cheap on Sky Box Office.”
Plus, I enjoyed the book and this appears to be such a cheap raping of great source material!
Ooooh Grundy, quick run and hide under the bed, I used the “word” rape in a poorly judged context!
Aaaaaarrrrrgggggh!
Lord, I still have to write my Babylon AD review. I honestly don’t know what to rate that thing.
How about somewhere between:
“No Popcorns”
and
“Ha Ha! Go **** Yourself Vin Diesel!”
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