21  

Year of Release: 2008
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG-13 for violence & sexual content, including partial nudity.
Director: Robert Luketic
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts

Date Of Review: May 2008

“Winner, winner, chicken dinner”! We now have a new star on the horizon in the form of Jim Sturgess. After his engaging performance in “21”, Sturgess, a 27 year-old Brit actor is destined to make a splash on the international scene. Sturgess whose presence could be described as something of a cross between Dawson’s Creek star Joshua Jackson and Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire is definitely a real-find. On top of that he even has an uncanny resemblance to Ashton Kutcher. For me, Sturgess’ presence in this film is a hat-trick of sorts and his performance is undoubtedly the best thing about the film.

Sturgess brings a certain likeability to the screen in his role of Ben Campbell, a 21 year-old mathematics genius who is exposed to the world of high stakes black jack through his math professor Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey). As he cannot afford to pay $300,000 for entry into the Harvard School of Medicine he reluctantly agrees to be trained in the skill of card counting so that he can make enough money to further his educational dreams. “Inspired by the true story of five students who changed the game forever”, “21” is a snappy paced black jack flick with decent performances, some crisp one-liners and a nifty Las Vegas backdrop. Coincidentally, the title “21” refers to both the game of black jack and the lead character’s age.

Australian Director Robert Luketic is something of a specialist in the romantic comedy genre, having had a rather successful run of films; beginning with the Reese Witherspoon teen comedy “Legally Blonde” (2001), the rather underrated piece of feel-good fluff “Win A Date With Tad Hamilton” (2004 – also starring “21’s” Kate Bosworth) and the amusing Jennifer Lopez / Jane Fonda family war epic “Monster In-Law” (2005). With “21”, Luketic has proven that he can competently assimilate from one genre to the next. Next up for Luketic is “The Ugly Truth” another romantic comedy, this time starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. It seems the key to Luketic’s success is his choice of stars to work with and with the young cast of “21”, his choice of Sturgess and Bosworth was spot on.

Oscar winner Kevin Spacey adds some flair to his flashy role as the cagey maths professor and looks like he is really enjoying himself in this one. “21” also marks the third time in recent years that Spacey and Bosworth have teamed up together on screen. The two played Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee in the bio pic “Beyond The Sea” (2005) and Lex Luthor and Lois Lane in “Superman Returns” (2006). It is also interesting to note that Kevin Spacey was one of the producers of “21”.

By no stretch of the imagination is “21” a brilliant film but it nevertheless achieves some of the key fundamentals that it lays out. Its elementary plot is rather captivating, the performances are engaging, the pacing is fairly tight and the film only lets us down with its rather generic explanation of the game itself. Maybe, the filmmakers felt that too much explanation may have slowed things down too much, whatever the case; I still feel that a little bit more about “the game” and the intricacies of “card counting” may have aided in the connection with the plot.

Although, “21” is not a jackpot winning hand, Director Robert Luketic makes sure that the film has enough tiger in the tank to dazzle us with its intriguing situations, its flashy outfits, the Vegas glitz and glamour and of course some neat card tricks. It’s really no surprise that “21” spent 2 weeks at number 1 in the U.S.A. because it delivers much of what you would expect from the premise. Yes, “21” may be fairly predictable at times, but it’s a rather enjoyable diversion that should please most audiences, especially youngsters yearning for a high stakes thrill ride.

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"If you like "21" you should also like the following films
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Pick Of The Flicks - Recommended Links:
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