| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | 21 (2008) |
| Director | Robert Luketic |
| Writer | Peter Steinfeld, Allan Loeb, Ben Mezrich |
| Lead Actor | Jim Sturgess |
| Cast | Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth |
| Genre | Crime, Drama, Thriller |
| Release Date | March 28, 2008 (United States) |
| Duration | 2h 3m(123 min) |
| Budget | $35 million |
| Language | English |
| IMDB Rating | 6.8/10 |
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21: Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess, The Other Boleyn Girl) is a math whiz on track to graduate at the head of his class from M.I.T. He has already been accepted into Harvard Medical School, although he lacks the tuition.
His math professor, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey, Superman Returns), invites Ben to join an exclusive money-making team of students who “count cards” at casinos and win against the house (casino). Rosa directs the team and collects a large percentage of the winnings. He no longer plays blackjack (known as “21”), because Vegas casino-security personnel know him and will not let him play.
Reluctant at first because it feels wrong to him, Ben learns blackjack and how to count and hits Las Vegas with the team. Winning and losing, he runs afoul of casino security, led by Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne, Akeelah and the Bee), and ultimately of Micky Rosa.
This film is based on Ben Mezrich’s 2002 best-selling book, Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. Mezrich changed some details for his book, and screenwriters Peter Steinfeld (Analyze That) and Allan Loeb (Things We Lost in the Fire) massage and complicate the story even more.
Card counting (keeping track of six decks of cards and calculating the odds of when the dealer will draw the right combination) is nothing new to the Vegas gambling scene. It is not illegal because it does not change the outcome of the game.
Before his death in 2002, the Rev. Joseph R. Fahey, S.J., won thousands of dollars counting cards and donated the money to his Jesuit community. An M.I.T. graduate and economics professor at Boston College, he taught a class in card counting.
This entertaining drama elicits audience sympathy for Ben and the team. While it doesn’t exactly glorify gambling, I would bet that books on card counting are selling briskly. The message is clear that there are consequences for the team’s choices and, by extension, the world and culture of gambling.
The film presents families with an opportunity to talk about the distinctions between legality and morality. At first, Ben is a student in need. But the casinos are favored to win. Greed, legal or not, is still one of the deadly sins; strip-club scenes, violence and innuendo.
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