21 is one of those movies that's based on a true story, but coats it with so much Hollywood gloss that the end product is even more implausible than what would have come entirely out of some screenwriter's head.
The movie is loosely based on the book Bringing Down the House, which told the story of MIT students who were able to count cards and win big in Vegas. The idea of college kids ripping casinos off for millions of dollars apparently wasn't enough to support an entire movie, however, so we get a duplicitous mentor, a love story and other stock subplots.
The protagonist, Ben (Jim Sturgess), is the ideal student: a 4.0 GPA, glowing recommendations and is too busy entering science competitions to have a social life. But $300,000 in tuition and living expenses are keeping him out of Harvard Med, and a board member he's pursuing for a full-ride scholarship tells him grades aren't enough; Ben needs to "dazzle" the committee with his life experience. After catching the eye of one of his professors, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), Ben is invited onto a secret team of MIT students who fly out to Vegas on the weekends to use a system of simple math and discreet hand signals to dominate at the blackjack tables.
What's truly astounding is how this inherently interesting story is too far-fetched to ever truly buy into. There are occasional moments that let the viewer connect, like when Ben gets so wrapped up in his new lifestyle he wakes up and tries to dial room service -- from his dorm.
More often, however, his behavior strains plausibility. Ben is smart enough to surpass the rest of the team's skill with a few weeks' training, so why can't he think of a safer place to stash his cash than above a panel in his dorm room ceiling? Not that the movie puts any more faith in the viewer's intelligence. 21 devotes considerable time to Ben's training, including the team's technique of code words to keep track of the card count: "sweet" for sixteen, "magazine" for seventeen, etc.
Yet every time a team member uses the code ("This drink is too sweet!"), we get a shot of an index card with the code word on one side and the number on the other. With this little faith in the viewer's short-term memory, it's no wonder the script doesn't account for Ben knowing how to open a bank account. Spacey hams Rosa up too much, vacillating between a friendly instructor who cracks jokes and a traitorous villain who launches into angry monologues whenever the team disappoints him. His betrayals of the team seem written into the script just to add more conflict.
Ben is also given personal relationships in an attempt for character development, but they never grow beyond archetypes. As soon as Jill (Kate Bosworth), who he admires from a distance, shows up on the team, the romance writes itself. One subplot that works out is that of Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne), who works in loss protection -- that is, he's a hired thug who beats up card counters that get caught. But new computer programs that analyze players' faces mean Cole is losing clients and he takes a personal interest in bringing the MIT team down.
A movie based around Cole would have been more interesting, but in 21 it's used as part of crazy plot twists. (Would you be surprised to learn Cole is happy to reunite with a mentor of Ben's, who got away clean after a big score decades previous?)
You don't need to be able to count ards to figure out the odds of 21: Unless you can find a way to cheat the system, the theater is just going to take your money and show you a dull movie. Maybe, if you're lucky, you'll be mildly entertained and break even.
Grade: C
