Reviews by Matt

When I find myself with nothing to do, which is not too often these days, I will sit on the couch and channel surf. Who knows how many hours I have spend with my finger on the channel button? Sure I could watch Sports Center, but how many times can you watch the same Sports Center? I mean they run that show just about every hour during the day.
This may come as a surprise to some, but more often than not, I will end up on The History Channel or The Discovery Channel.

I probably watch more shows on those two channels than all the others combined. It is interesting stuff and you do not feel like a slob because you spent 3 hours watching because you actually learned something.

I tell you all this because I have seen numerous shows on the MIT students who counted cards in Las Vegas in the early 90s. So when I went to see “21” I knew it was not going to match up with what The History and Discovery Channels had taught me.

Ben Campbell (Jim Strugess) is a gifted MIT student who recently was accepted to Harvard Medical School. The only problem is that he does not have the $300,000 to pay for it. He wants to get the full ride scholarship, but he does not “jump off the page.” One day he is recruited by Professor Rosa (Kevin Spacey) to join his group of gifted students and go to Vegas and win vast sums of money by counting cards and beating the house at Blackjack.

Things start to unravel when Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne) a security consultant for the casinos begins to notice Ben and his friends winning with such ease.

Let’s face it. If you are going into this expecting a movie that will be full of plot twists, and require intense viewing lest you miss a key piece of information, you will be sorely disappointed.

There is one plot twist, but I saw it coming a mile away. In fact, it was so obvious that I assumed that everyone in the theater knew it. I was wrong (but not surprising since the people behind me were laughing uncontrollably at the “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” trailer. Adam Sander does Borat is not that funny)

I was not expecting it to be accurate and it was because of this fact that I found myself enjoying the movie. You might as well check your brain at the door because it will not be needed. There is no real explanation of how to count cards, which is a good thing because you know some dumb ass would try it and get his kneecaps broken when he was caught.

How does this rank in terms of card/casino movies? It is middle of the pack at best. If you really want a good card movie watch “Rounders.” Or watch “Casino” if you want to see what really happens when you get caught counting cards.

“21” is not going blaze any new trails in terms of movies with card games at the center, but it is not a waste either. It is nothing more than a movie that asks very little of the audience and provides two hours of entertainment.

7 out of 10
PG-13 for some violence, and sexual content including partial nudity
2 hrs 3 mins