21

Title: 21

Cast: Tim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishbourne, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, Jack McGee, Josh Gad, Sam Golzari, Helen Carey, Jack Gilpin, Donna Lows, Butch Williams Director: Robert Luketic Producers: Dana Brunette, Kevin Spacey Screenwriters: Peter Steinfeld, Alan Loeb Music: James Newton Howard Editor: Elliot Graham Genre: Comedy Cinematography: Russel Carpenter Distributor: Columbia Pictures; Sony Pictures Releasing International Location: Boston, Las Vegas, USA Running Time: 95 min.

Technical Assessment: 3.5

Moral Assessment: 2.5

CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above

Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is in his last year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He now has set his mind to become a doctor and applied for enrollment at the Harvard Medical School. His problem is to find the means to come up with his tuition fees of $300,000. He works hard at his job and looks for other opportunities. But this is a slow and hard way to save. Besides he has his classes, school projects and study to attend to. Out of the blue he is invited by his math professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) to join his secret small group of students who visit Las Vegas on weekends to play Black Jack, an easy game to play and to win a lot of money in the casinos without fail. Mickey knows that Ben is the smartest in his math class and a genius above his team of players. At first he refuses the invitation. But when the professor sends group member Jill (Kate Bosworth) to convince him “how his life could change for the better”, Ben finally gives in. He is taught their means of communication: a way of counting cards on the table, the use of signs, signals, body movements, and so on. Once ready and prepared, Micky leads Ben and the team to hit Las Vegas.

21 is an unusual story because it presents a professor of mathematics who recruits his best math students and trains them to play cards to win. The story is exciting to watch. There are comic moments to laugh at, although more appealing for the viewers would be the scenes around the gaming tables, waiting to see what is going to happen, how would the game end up? This includes trying to interpret the meaning of every signal being sent by a teammate to another without giving themselves away. They have been trained not to recognize or acknowledge each other within the casino limits. The small ensemble cast work very well together. Outstanding, among them, as expected are veteran actor Kevin Spacey and newcomer Jim Sturgess. As a story, there are moments when a scene or sequence does not seem connected to another, like an abrupt ending, or how is the game played, what is involved.

What happens when the best students are trained and taught to use their brains to take advantage of others? Because of their concentration on the game, and winnings, the bright math students neglect their studies, for one. The develop a liking for what they're doing. Their values change. In particular, Ben who said to Jill that he would quit the game the moment he had the cash needed for his tuition, did not want to quit anymore. He has changed from a shy simple young man to someone who now loved the con man he has become. He lies to his mother about getting a scholarship, neglects his girlfriend, and messes things up with his two project buddies.