While it came as somewhat of a surprise to
many Hollywood insiders that 21
did so well at the US Box Office (doubling it's budget and thensome),
for this every-day cinema goer - the Kevin Spacey led card flick seems
like a sure thing from the get go.
Think of it: One part World
Poker Championships, one part Oceans 11, one part
Good
Will Hunting, one part Lock Stock... AND
Kevin Spacey!
Inspired
by a true story (and it's not that far fetched, my High School maths
teacher took a group of his better students to the casino several times
over the course of my schooling life), 21 mixes Las Vegas
casino wheeling and
dealing with college-teen angst.
Spacey peddles his wares as crafty MIT professor Micky Rosa, who trains
brainiac students to count cards and then flies them out to Vegas to
raid the blackjack tables between classes.
At first they rake in a
bundle, but then catch the unwanted attention of tough-guy security
chief, Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne, for once, not narrating
something!) who wants to prove himself
before he's replaced by face recognition software.
Throw
into the mix a super math genius (Jim Sturgess) and a resident babe
in Kate Bosworth (who has been strangely quite since Superman Returns)
and a twist that reveals that good ol' Professor Rosa has been skimming
some cash off the top - and you've got yourself on fine Friday night
flick.
3 out
of 5
21
Australian release: 15th May, 2008
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence
Fishburne Director: Robert Luketic
Website:21
