Rent 21 (2008)

Middle American Mediocrity - 21 review by CP Customer

21 is a rather formulaic and mediocre movie, it focuses on a MIT college student (Ben) who tries his hand in counting Black Jack to pay for Med School. He goes about this by joining a card counting team of MIT students who hit up Vegas on the weekends. They set you up with a good premise, but unfortunately 21 falters as they shove too much unnecessary MTV mellow teen drama down your throat. I can only assume they were going for the extra money by catering towards the demographic, because they could have easily written the movie without it. Ben falls for a girl, leaves all his old friends behind, hits rock bottom, then conveniently wraps everything back up, all to that cliche music that kicks in right when the drama flows. They even had some fake-me-out Jonah Hill [Superbad] for the comic-relief. Once I knew what they were going for, it took out any suspense or surprise, because the movie became too conventional. 21 was overly long too. If they cut the poorly scripted drama to a lean 1 hour 30 minute flick with just the base premise, I'd be much more impressed. Above issues aside, it's not all bad. There was a good story to be told if you disregard some of the weaker scenes. Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne were good in this as well. The actors on the MIT black jack team didn't really stand out, but had a good chemistry. There was also some decent humor. All in all though, I wish they had gone a different, more mature route. Just leaves you with a long, average and drawn-out experience!

A rollercoaster ride of a film! - 21 review by CP Customer

In true Hollywood style this is a film of ups and downs and concerns a brilliant young lad who gets seduced into the fascinating (try it!) world of card counting by his professor. Spacey's protegee shines as the cash rolls in on a luxurious trip to Vegas.

This film may be compared to 'Oceans Eleven' etc because of its location, but I feel that '21' is far superior because the plot puts ordinary people within reach of their dreams.

Slick and well made - 21 review by CP Customer

Engaging film about a group of gifted students who are coached by their professor to rip off the casinos in Vegas by card counting. Spacey is great in his role as the unpleasant controlling professor and new boy Jim Sturgess, who I have seen in a couple of other good films, impresses once again.