Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Updates:

21 (2008)

Director: Robert Luketic

Time Out rating

Average user rating

33 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Based on the true story of a bunch of MIT geeks who hit Las Vegas for a winning run on the blackjack tables before casino security cottoned on, this is a great idea for a movie but not a great movie.

In essence, it adheres to the evergreen guys-on-a-mission template, with hard-up undergrad, Ben (Jim Sturgess, lightweight but passable) fearing he’ll be priced out of Harvard Medical School. He is lured by maths professor Rosa (Kevin Spacey, urbane but hokey) into a guerrilla unit of his best students ready to take on the baize tables: his argument is that twenty-one is a simple game, and by remembering which cards have been dealt, you give yourself a better chance of knowing when to fold or take a chance.

Prospects look good for the rest of the picture at this stage, but disappointment takes over with the realisation it’s all being pitched to a pre-teen audience, smoothing out potentially juicy moral dilemmas and sanitising the grown-up throb of the Vegas experience into anodyne glitz.

Actually, there’s something rather pernicious in the way the film drools over the towering chips, palatial suites and incipient gambling fever, as if to tantalise viewers way too young to be admitted to these very establishments; all of which hardly keeps us on-message that friendship’s a greater prize than cash alone. The whizzo-conceit and slick visual bling do give it an undeniably diverting buzz, yet the movie’s cautionary formula shows its hand way before the clunky final reel.

Author: Trevor Johnston 2008-04-08 11:11:01

Time Out London Issue 1964: April 10 – 16, 2008

Bookmark

User reviews of this film

usman khawaja said...

Posted on Apr 21 2008 15:27 can i clarify i have no intention of dignifying a post which uses 4 letter words with a response
lolz
the rejoinder asking some one to shut up was not mine but posted by ?
TIMEOUT -LOLZ
maybe that is there strategy of dealing with imbeciles and spam
my compliments and regards

Report as inappropriate
iain said...

Posted on Apr 21 2008 00:41 a good and easy to watch film, though no where near a classic. not sure about sturgess in the lead role, a bit weak for me, but spacey puts in another fine performance as the dodgy professer.

Report as inappropriate
PowerJen said...

Posted on Apr 20 2008 17:27 a story about young inteligent uni students tryna make some extra cash by winning at gambeling by counting cards, a basic storyline with an bovious twist at the end, if your wanting an easy to watch film then go see, however if your looking for something with a little more excitement and intrigue, not recommended.

Report as inappropriate
Rebecca said...

Posted on Apr 20 2008 16:26 I have quite clearly missed something here because basically, this was the worst film that I have ever paid to see. It was not even good enough to be purely mindless, escapist entertainment. Not even cheesy, not even so bad that it was funny - just bad. Awful, awful, awful. Absolutely nothing redeeming about it at all. If I had not paid £8.50 to see it I would have left after the first 10 minutes - infact no after the first 2 minutes - the intro (which was basically just a poor trailer for the whole film with a dodgy, cringy voice over and slow motion montage) being one of the worst things about it. Please people do not waste your money - go to the pub instead, go see your gran - anything but this. I would give it minus 5 stars if Time Out did not insist that you must give it at least 1.

Report as inappropriate
courtney said...

Posted on Apr 18 2008 20:22 i will have to see it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Report as inappropriate
Bruce said...

Posted on Apr 16 2008 17:32 The Time Out review is spot-on. It's a product aimed squarely at what TO calls "the pre-teen" market". Spacey acted the others off the screen, including his "muse", Kate Bosworth. Jim Sturgess too effete for me...
Bruce
+18 Market

Report as inappropriate
levin said...

Posted on Apr 16 2008 17:29 this ones really good and entertaining..much beta than the other one(pathology) which i watched today...has got all the elements in it,love,sex,passion,myestry,,,etc...i think its worth watching

Report as inappropriate
usman khawaja said...

Posted on Apr 16 2008 01:36 gambling was never so easy as in this instant formula where counting cards can make you a millionaire in a weekend ,and sturgess as an MIT inmate establishes that in a few weeks with the help of a morally ambiguous professor ,but the loopholes in the script are obvious -no one questions too hard as to where they disappear every week-no one ever sees them in the opulent vulgarity of vegas ,a tasteless resort filled with similar bourgeois east coast yanks,vegas looks like just the cheap replica of a secondary european city with its customary neon shots and obligatory casino shots and plush green tables,
sturgess tries hard to impress even in a mimcry in front of a toilet mirror ,but the only time any humour excites you is the reference to rain man and cruise -hoffman in similar tones.
other than that the lead girl is pretty and they frolic in bed too-so you will not be disappointed,
spacey disappoints and he is a mean villain here with no character development -i wonder why he took this monotonous role,and the rest of the cast are sturgess class mates and buddies who are quite dumb and developing a robot as a research project ,
the cliched disaster strikes -sturgess is on the brink of destruction ,the sympathetic ,loving mum arrives ,and then everything goes hunky dory ,but ..
there is a really neat twist to the finale and that makes the movie woth watching
a caper that works half way with average acting and some good dialogue -but nothing to commit to memory and no artistic pretensions ,
this takes itself not too seriously and partly suceeds for that very reason ,the audience get what they expect and that is being earnest

Report as inappropriate
oggie said...

Posted on Apr 15 2008 15:35 it was fantabbydosey gang yer a must see

Report as inappropriate
john said...

Posted on Apr 14 2008 19:39 quality film

Report as inappropriate
Paul Cook said...

Posted on Apr 13 2008 23:13 A good stroy, no oscars, but it will earn enough for Kate Bosworth to buy a couple of meals and a new bucket.

Report as inappropriate
Noel said...

Posted on Apr 13 2008 18:47 Never seen better! It really is an awsome movie and a must see!

Report as inappropriate
Iain said...

Posted on Apr 13 2008 18:07 Wickid film thoroughly enjoyed it.

Report as inappropriate
raj said...

Posted on Apr 12 2008 20:57 amazing

Report as inappropriate
watban said...

Posted on Apr 12 2008 20:05 not too bad

Report as inappropriate