Robert Luketic's "21" is the sort-of true story of five MIT nerds that use the "simple math" to their advantage and take sin city for hundreds of thousands of dollars. But, though a knowledge of mathematics can lead to a big payout, luck always runs out.
Jim Sturgess, last seen wearing tights and a poufy shirt in "The Other Boleyn Girl" is our oh-so-charming and quiet genius, Ben Campbell. Campbell is in his senior year (even though he is shown celebrating his 21st birthday) and on the fast track to Harvard Medical School. He's such a whiz with numbers that he's figured that grad school will run him $300,000, and his part-time, $8 an hour job will not cover it. Hoping to score a free ride from what is apparently the only scholarship available (whoops, plot hole), Campbell's luck begins to turn when his non-linear equations teacher Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) invites him to join a team.
The game is blackjack, and after a chat with his crush Jill (Kate Bosworth), Campbell cedes and boards a plane to Vegas, thinking he'll make $300,000 and then get out. Here, the team assumes different identities, communicates through signals and code words, and rakes in the cash. At night, they meet Micky in a high roller suite to split the winnings. Micky doesn't play himself, alluding to a shady past (well, of course, it's a Kevin Spacey character), but still takes 50% of the winnings.
As can be expected, just as things are heating up in Vegas (lots of cash, a hot girl, etcetera), Campbell's life back in Boston is taking a hit. He has to lie to his mother and his best friends, leading to a confrontation that results in Campbell losing his cool and a lot of cash back on the west coast.
The game turns serious, leading to a lovely chat between Campbell and a loss prevention consultant, Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne) and his bag of think-twice-about-counting-cards rings. Turns out Williams remembers Micky and the night that ended his blackjack-playing days. What follows is a back-and-forth game between the team and their leader (and Williams) as everyone tries to get even without losing it all.
"21," which topped the box office this weekend, starts slow and clunky but evolves into a fast-paced film that runs like a well-oiled machine. We are led into the game slowly with Ben; we learn the tricks and how to count. These early scenes also feature "Fight Club"-like camera movements that give the film its initial burst of energy (the technique is later abandoned and replaced, oddly enough, by a handful of slow motion shots). By the second trip to Vegas, Ben breaks free from holding the viewer's hand we're left to keep count or go home. I'm not so much for the math, so I suspended my disbelief and enjoyed the show.
Campbell plays the part well, showing the transformation from honest and innocent boy genius to sleek and smooth high roller. His teammates are relegated to relatively small parts, except for Jill, but only because she's the love interest. Bosworth is pretty, but she isn't given much to work with. It's Spacey who steals the show. One of the few actors able to pull off pure evil, Spacey's Micky is sleazy, calculating, and lacking even a single thread of moral fiber.
Everything works out in the end; I won't spoil it here, but if you pay close attention to the dialogue (and it's not that complex), you'll probably figure it out just as things start to go bad. Despite the goofy hand signals and surprisingly tame ways the kids spend their weekends in Vegas, "21" is a pointed look at morality and power. After all, counting cards isn't illegal, but is it justified by intelligence and what these kids make out to be an inalienable right to attend a fancy private university?