Robert Luketic’s 21, aims to stand somewhere between Ocean’s series and Passion (Rounders). He wants to present both a stylized entertainment on the glitter and entertainment of Vegas and a moral story about the danger and exploitation of high-figure gambling. At the end of the work, the glittering Hollywood / Vegas mix dominates and results in an easily forgettable production 21.
It’s a pity, because Bringing Down The House is a semi-real, semi-fiction book that tells the story of a handful of MIT students who have inspired 21, counting cards and turning dozens of casinos in four corners of America.
Although the original book makes some additions to real-life events, 21 does its best to turn this story into a customary Vegas adventure. The reasons behind these changes are obvious. In fact, the clarity and ease of these decisions are the most distressing features of 21.
For example, Jeff Ma, the most successful member of the MIT Blackjack group in real-life Asia, was transformed into a typical anglo-saxon name like Ben Campbell in the film version and played by a white actor (Jim Sturgess from Across The Universe). Ma said in the press that he had no problem with this election, but even though most of the MIT students in the book were Asian, only one character in the film played by an Asian actor reveals that Hollywood still needs to grow in terms of ethnic diversity.
It also has a feeling of coercion in the romantic sub-story, created between Ben and Jill (Kate Bosworth), a typical “genius supermodel” typing with another MIT Blackjack card counter. Perhaps there is no romance between the two in real life.
Ben’s motivation to strengthen our sympathy for him as he decides to count cards because he needs money to go to Harvard. In real life, Jeff Ma is counting cards for an obscure reason, such as BEING RICH, which is of course too superficial for 21 screenwriters. Fortunately, “Mom is sick. We need money for surgery” we do not encounter the number.
I’ve always thought that Vegas has been portrayed as an overly glowing, exciting and adventurous place in most television shows and movies. A small part of Vegas can be really sparkling and attractive, but the majority are full of light, pale and depressed gambling tables, alcoholics who have lost their desire to live. 21 shows just how much fun the MIT group has with its stylized helicopter shots that show off the Vegas Strip in all its glory and dynamic casino scenes full of romance.
In real life, when I think that the group is completely focused on the game, that they stay away from clubs, parties and expensive shopping, it is impossible to think of a more sane drama that examines the more monotonous side of Vegas and the disappearance of the MIT group within this monotonous mechanism.
As such, it is difficult to approach with high expectations since it was given to Robert Luketic, the director of light romantic comedies such as Legally Blonde and Monster in-Law. With his ever-moving camera and CGI card shots, Luketic manages to make a game as simple as Blackjack. If it had been shortened by half an hour, repeating the same subject points over a period of more than two hours, at least there would have been at least an easily forgettable “short” pastime. But in this state, it is an uninspired, usual and boring Vegas adventure.
21 (2008)
Directed by: Robert Luketic
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Bosworth, Liza Lapira, Josh Gad, Jim Sturgess, Masi Oka, Sam Golzari, Jacob Pitts, Helen Carey, Jack Gilpin, Donna Lows
Screenplay by: Peter Steinfeld, Allan Loeb
Production Design by: Missy Stewart
Cinematography by: Russell Carpenter
Film Editing by: Elliot Graham
Costume Design by: Luca Mosca
Art Direction by: James F. Truesdale
Music by: David Sardy
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some violence, and sexual content including partial nudity.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: March 28, 2008
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