Reviews
21 (12A)
PLAY your cards right, says
Kevin Spacey's mathematics
professor to his students, and
you could win a fortune at the tables in
Las Vegas.
Like many dramas revolving around
gambling, 21 shows that playing cards
is more exciting than watching
someone play even if, as here, it's
based on a real life story.
Director Robert Luketic, who made
Legally Blonde, does his best to
explain the rules but still lost me.
Happily for the team assembled by
Micky Rosa (Spacey), they have Ben
Campbell (Jim Sturgess) as the new
boy at the tables.
He needs the cash to pay his way
through Harvard Medical School and
has the brain to beat the casinos at
their own game as long as the security
chief (Laurence Fishburne) doesn't
cotton on to what's happening.
Ben's good at counting, which is
what you need to beat the dealer at
blackjack. The odds against the player
are reduced if he can assess the likely
probability of drawing a winning
hand.
British actor Sturges makes an
engaging hero - and convincing
American - as he becomes carried
away by winning, gets cocky and
threatens the whole enterprise.
Kate Bosworth as a fellow player
inevitably ends up in his bed, but the
rest of the team are only sketchily
written and make little impression.
Spacey just about adds up as the
gambling professor, although the final
twist in the tale seems more contrived
than convincing.
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin
Spacey, Laurence Fishburne
Running time: 122 mins
Rating: Three stars
5:14pm Friday 11th April 2008
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