21

Loosely based on Ben Mezrich's bestseller "Bringing Down the House," which itself was based on a true story, 21 centers on Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess, Across the Universe), a supernerd at MIT and one of the most talented minds on campus. He's been accepted to Harvard Medical School, but comes from a poor background and can't afford the $300,000 he'll need for tuition and expenses (student loans don't exist in this world, it would seem). He finds a solution when he is asked to join a special team formed by his charismatic, Lex Luthor-like math professor Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey). Mickey and his team of students have used their considerable mathematical genius to devise a card-counting scheme that they use at blackjack every weekend in Las Vegas to make a ton of money. At first Ben is reluctant, but is turned around by the prospect of paying off medical school, the allure of the way-too-hot-for-MIT team member Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), and hey, counting cards isn't illegal, so there can't be any real danger right? Yeah right. Ben is a natural from the start. He manages to continue as a student at MIT during the week, but makes tens of thousands each weekend in Vegas and lives it up with partying, strip clubs, shopping, and room service. His luck starts to change however, when he catches the eye of an old school security expert (Laurence Fishburne) who believes in old school security methods, and he sees a new side of Mickey when things start to go south.

21 is serviceable entertainment, with quick-cutting, high energy sequences from director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde). However, in an attempt to give the story more weight, uninteresting character development, relationships, and morality issues have been added that drag the film down. It's a nice idea, but poorly executed. And you'd be amazed at how characters who are supposed to be off-the-charts smart can do so many amazingly stupid things. The story would likely have been better served by taking the Ocean's Eleven route, focusing more on the scheming and plotting of the crew and keeping the tone light and breezy. Up-and-comer Sturgess does nice work as Ben, and Spacey is fine in a sleazy role he could sleepwalk through. Bosworth is unimpressive in a meaningless role. 21 is a decently entertaining way to kill time, but is one of the few instances where the movie actually could have been better if the filmmakers had aimed a little lower.