The last time I went to Atlantic City I lost 100 bucks and promised myself I’d never go back. After watching this movie it was almost impossible to resist the urge to try my hand once again at the tables of luck.
Tables of luck? Not if you are a boy genius at MIT who just happens to have the uncanny ability to count cards like a robot.
Thats the premise of 21, an all around fun movie that is based on the true life of Kevin Lewis. The movie is a loose adaptation of the book Bringing Down The House. By loose I mean the addition of typical Hollywood twists, turns, and amped up drama between the characters.
Here’s the gist of the plot: Boy with no money excels at academics, goes to MIT, gets accepted to Harvard Med but doesn’t have the $300 grand to afford tuition. Coincidentally, at this exact time of crisis he stumbles upon a secret card counting group of genius math students led by a rouge professor. After a few days of resisting the inevitable, his need for money convinces him that this is what he has to do. With just a little training he becomes the star of the group, and before too long he’s taking Vegas for thousands a night. As one could expect, the risks of gambling catch up and all hell begins to break loose by the second half of the film.
The highlights of this movie are the performances by Kevin Spacey (the professor) and Laurence Fishburne (the king of Vegas security). Both actors bring extra gravity to a film that might otherwise have floated into the air with its lack of depth.
If you are looking for a no-brainer fun time at the movies, look no further than 21. It is thoroughly enjoyable.
Grade: B+
Image Used in this Post
21 image courtesy of Moviecritic.
9 Comments
I saw this movie last night and thought it was amazing. My only beef was this:
With all the money he made, he could have easily afforded a safe deposit box.
In real life he played for 4 years, put the money in bank accounts, and found a way to declare it to IRS. His only problem was the casino owners who consistently tried to catch him in the act.
Also, the movie left out the best part of the book…Kevin has front row seats to the infamous fight where Tyson bites off Holyfield’s ear. He comes down with food poisoning the night before and when he finally feels good enough to leave his room he decides to go gamble…only to find the casino floor empty.
Turns out when Tyson went nuts in the ring so did the crowd and everyone in the casino. Gunshots were going off, pure chaos. That would have made for an awesome scene.
Wow, I am suprised they left that out. The Tyson fight time-stamps the story at about 1997 I believe. Nowadays, the blackjack tables have better face recognition software than in the movie. And they also use shuffle machines with 12 decks. I’m curious if the system can still be beat.
I doubt it, but I’m sure people will continue to try till the end of the world. There’s nothing like a quick buck to motivate people.
While my interest in gambling and casinos is lukewarm at best, this movie sounds interesting and potentially entertaining.
The movie rocks, thats for sure.
Casinos are pretty obnoxious thats for sure.
In fact I think the only way I could have fun at a casino again is if I went the Fear and Loathing route.
Andrew, I don’t recommend the Fear and Loathing route haha. The thing about casinos that ticks me off the most is the high minimum bets on table games. I can’t stand going down to Atlantic City on a Saturday night and seeing $25 and $50 minimum bets per blackjack hand.
If the minimum bets were one dollar like they were in Vegas, when me and the infamous slacker went there, then I could sit at the table all night and enjoy the sinful atmosphere while puffing on a nice cigar, sipping (or slamming) dirty vodka martinis. When I finally walk away from the table after an hour instead of a few minutes, I have enjoyed myself while not loosing a lot of money. Whatever, sorry for the babbling…err wait…I mean I’m not sorry for babbling, for it seems I am in the right place to do so.
Yeah thats dead on Jon.
The rich play the tables all night.
The middle class play the tables for 5-15 minutes get discouraged and then play quarter to dollar slots for the rest of the night.
The poor play quarter slots for 5-15 minutes, get discouraged and then play penny slots for the rest of the night.
But at least we all pay the same price for the all-you-can-eat-buffets!