Audience plays along with '21'

 by Jeff Mitchell
 published on Friday, March 28, 2008

Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

RAISING THE STAKES: Kate Bosworth (left) and Jim Sturgess play MIT students who spend their weekends counting cards in Las Vegas in the Columbia Pictures gambling movie “21.” The movie also features Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne.

I know the basic rules of blackjack, but I am by no means an expert.

I love to play, but end up losing more often than winning.

In fact, this one time in Las Vegas, I sat down at a $10 blackjack table at Monte Carlo at around 4 a.m. after a few drinks, and … well, you can probably guess the rest.

I certainly could have used the help of Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), and Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), MIT students who become expert card counters and win lots of money in Vegas in the fun thrill ride "21."

The film also stars Kevin Spacey as Micky Rosa, an MIT professor who teaches and runs a card-counting scheme to tilt the game of blackjack to the players' advantage.

Micky's young protégés, including Jim and Jill, carry out the methods to his madness to their great advantage as they study in Boston during the week and win hundreds of thousands of dollars in Sin City on the weekends.

Both Las Vegas and this film are big, bright and exciting, as director Robert Luketic beautifully captures the fluorescent cornucopia both outside on the strip and inside in the card rooms.

Luketic depicts the lighting, mood and danger perfectly in Vegas, but the audience gets a glimpse of his talent early in the picture during a stunning-looking sequence in Micky's classroom.

As the camera snakes through the classroom, we are welcomed into the world of high-level math, but are also intimidated by its complexity.

But "21" — based upon the nonfiction best-seller "Bringing Down the House" — does a good job of translating the complicated method of card-counting through Micky's lessons and the use of flashcards on the big screen.

Believe me, you'll need the Cliff notes to follow along as the film amply drops in the verbal and nonverbal cues of the students' scheme, so we get to play along.

Of course, things aren't all rosy as Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne) a casino security manager, ominously lurks after our "heroes" through the cameras in the sky.

And Jim's non-card-counting friends feel left behind while Jim leaves for adventure on the weekends.

Jim lives on the edge, including falling for the unattainable Jill, and his fast-moving lifestyle translates to a fast-paced story with twists and turns that surprise.

Although Campbell's deadpan narration is a little mechanical, there's great chemistry between him and Bosworth on screen.

And Spacey is terrific as the puppet master pulling the strings.

A Harvard admissions officer says to Jim, "What can you tell me that's going to dazzle me?"

Well, for me, this film is certainly the thing that did.

Reach the reporter at: jeffrey.mitchell@asu.edu.