2008 Woodie Awards
Spacey, Fishburne hit box office jackpot with "21"
John Errigo
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Entertainment
Thrilling, action-packed, intelligent, clever, and menacing are five capstone adjectives that describe the latest Sony pictures film, "21."
The movie was well-written and hosts an incredibly talented cast including Kevin Spacey. The main plot is interwoven between the stark reality of illuminating the dazzling story of a brilliant student winning a full tuition scholarship to Harvard Medical School, worth over $300,000 and the thrill of counting cards in Las Vegas to win the big bucks to help pay for the exuberant cost of the school.
The story is a killer and is probably the best movie I have seen in the last six months. The plot is clever and keeps you on the edge of your seat as you watch these black-jack players in action. The movie is centered around the concept of "counting cards," where a person can keep track of card values in order to win the elevated pay out of black-jack over a series of hands.
Dr. Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), an MIT professor, secretly teaches the trade of counting cards to the brightest kids in his classes. Ben (Jim Sturgess) has the mathematical mind of a genius, and quickly learns the secrets of the trade. He begins to leave his nerdy weekend life in Massachusetts and trades it for the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas, where he will eventually win a towering amount of cash, along with his peers and teammates, Jill (Kate Bosworth), Miles (Josh Gad), Fisher (Jacob Pitts), Choi (Aaron Yoo), Cameron (Sam Golzari) and Stemple (Spencer Garrett).
The team learns to count cards, and by employing an intricate system of signals, the cast of card counters learns to beat the casinos by banking huge pay outs during their weekend excursions. Though counting cards isn't illegal, the stakes are high, and the challenge becomes not only keeping the numbers straight, but staying one step ahead of the casino's menacing enforcer: Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne).
The movie tells in detail the story of how an ordinary college professor transforms and risks the simple lives of MIT students while allowing the audience to live vicariously through the trained black-jack high-rollers while they flint and flaunt through Las Vegas. The story is intriguing and gives the audience something to think about while they watch nervously as these students beat the system in various Las Vegas casinos.
The students learn quickly that they can make a lot of cash and start to take their earnings seriously and spend them as fast as they are earned. Ben also learns that his boring life in Massachusetts is nothing like the life he is living in Las Vegas. He is risking not only his school studies, but his life-long friendships and academic honor.
The movie was well-written and hosts an incredibly talented cast including Kevin Spacey. The main plot is interwoven between the stark reality of illuminating the dazzling story of a brilliant student winning a full tuition scholarship to Harvard Medical School, worth over $300,000 and the thrill of counting cards in Las Vegas to win the big bucks to help pay for the exuberant cost of the school.
The story is a killer and is probably the best movie I have seen in the last six months. The plot is clever and keeps you on the edge of your seat as you watch these black-jack players in action. The movie is centered around the concept of "counting cards," where a person can keep track of card values in order to win the elevated pay out of black-jack over a series of hands.
Dr. Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), an MIT professor, secretly teaches the trade of counting cards to the brightest kids in his classes. Ben (Jim Sturgess) has the mathematical mind of a genius, and quickly learns the secrets of the trade. He begins to leave his nerdy weekend life in Massachusetts and trades it for the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas, where he will eventually win a towering amount of cash, along with his peers and teammates, Jill (Kate Bosworth), Miles (Josh Gad), Fisher (Jacob Pitts), Choi (Aaron Yoo), Cameron (Sam Golzari) and Stemple (Spencer Garrett).
The team learns to count cards, and by employing an intricate system of signals, the cast of card counters learns to beat the casinos by banking huge pay outs during their weekend excursions. Though counting cards isn't illegal, the stakes are high, and the challenge becomes not only keeping the numbers straight, but staying one step ahead of the casino's menacing enforcer: Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne).
The movie tells in detail the story of how an ordinary college professor transforms and risks the simple lives of MIT students while allowing the audience to live vicariously through the trained black-jack high-rollers while they flint and flaunt through Las Vegas. The story is intriguing and gives the audience something to think about while they watch nervously as these students beat the system in various Las Vegas casinos.
The students learn quickly that they can make a lot of cash and start to take their earnings seriously and spend them as fast as they are earned. Ben also learns that his boring life in Massachusetts is nothing like the life he is living in Las Vegas. He is risking not only his school studies, but his life-long friendships and academic honor.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Kevin Jonston
posted 4/11/08 @ 4:25 PM EST
Actually this movie is based on a true story of some MIT guys that took Vegas for millions. And although the movie was based off of the book, it's all still based on actual events. (Continued…)
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