21 (2008)

Director:

Robert Luketic

Writers (WGA):

Peter Steinfeld (screenplay) and
Allan Loeb (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 March 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Inspired by the true story of five students who changed the game forever.

Plot:

"21" is the fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings.

Plot Keywords:

Birthday Party | Las Vegas Nevada | Basketball | Betrayal | Cheating At Cards

Awards:

1 win

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Jim Sturgess	...	Ben Campbell
Kevin Spacey	...	Prof. Micky Rosa
Kate Bosworth	...	Jill Taylor
Aaron Yoo	...	Choi
Liza Lapira	...	Kianna
Jacob Pitts	...	Jimmy Fisher
Laurence Fishburne	...	Cole Williams
Jack McGee	...	Terry
Josh Gad	...	Miles Connoly
Sam Golzari	...	Cam
Helen Carey	...	Ellen Campbell
Jack Gilpin	...	Bob Phillips
Donna Lows	...	Planet Hollywood Dealer #1
Butch Williams	...	Planet Hollywood Dealer #2
Jeffrey Ma	...	Planet Hollywood Dealer Jeff

Also Known As:

21 - The Movie (USA) (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence, and sexual content including partial nudity.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | UK:12A | Poland:15 | South Africa:13V | Finland:K-13 | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | Ireland:12A | New Zealand:M | Brazil:14 | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Greece:K-13 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43290) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:G (Québec) | Italy:T

Filming Locations:

Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Michael De Luca Productions

Trivia:

MIT wouldn't allow filming on its campus, so the movie was actually filmed at Boston University.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Prof Rosa calls Cole, Terry answers the phone and places Rosa on hold. However, when Cole takes the phone from Terry, he does not take Rosa off of hold and proceeds to talk to him.

Quotes:

Ben Campbell: [after Jill wakes him up when their plane arrives in Boston] I seem to be waking up to you a lot.
Jill Taylor: Don't get used to it.

Movie Connections:

References Rambo (2008)

Soundtrack:

Young Folks

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

There are many stories about success based on hard-work and perseverance. There have also been many stories about success based on crime and abandonment of the law. Both of these scenarios can make for great movies -- but when a movie like 21 comes out, it's both great AND fresh. 21 is a movie about success based on locking in on a hole in the system, and exploiting it.

Card counting is legal, and anyone able to do so can take the house's edge away in a game of blackjack. That is the basic premise of 21: A team of intelligent students at MIT structure a team to make vast amounts of money at the blackjack table. They have everything down pat, from the counting to the signals to alert of suspicious casino workers (because if you can believe it, casinos don't like to lose money in such high amounts.) The movie portrays the situation stylishly, perfectly blending in montages and effective music when necessary. Add in some Hollywood "embellishment" such as a particularly harsh head of security (Laurence Fishburne), and you have the making of a good movie on your hands.

It is disappointing that the production team felt the need to re-assign the races of the actual MIT Team (of which the majority was Asian), but that's more of an issue of ethics and sociology. Don't let it ruin a perfectly good movie. Aside from this blunder, 21 is an excellent film.