21 (2008)

21 (2008)

Airline Flight Dallas, TX to Seattle, WA

July 21, 2008

** / ****

by Scott Muoio

Inspired by a true story, 21 tells the tale of a group of M.I.T. students who made millions in the early ‘80s counting cards in Las Vegas casinos. Part fisherman’s tale and part memoir, the film version of 21 takes a supposedly real story and boils it down to typical plot points and implausible predictability and splashes it all with a thoroughly modern sheen. In other words, the film is the ultimate time waster: pretty, fast-paced, ridiculous, and features two actors (Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne) who, as arch-enemies (one a former gambler and cheat, the other a violent casino pit boss), chew more scenery than cinematic legends Jaws and Divine combined. When critics write about being able to hear a script’s gears loudly grinding while watching a motion picture, 21 is precisely the type of film they are describing. Let’s examine the details…

Good looking actors Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth play Ben and Jill, respectively, and provide the requisite they can’t, they might, they do, they shouldn’t, they will again love story. As M.I.T. classmates and gambling partners, the young geniuses ride the high of beating dealers with their card counting chutzpah while attempting to balance school, personal lives, and their future. Along for the ride is the fallen superstar of the gambling troupe (Jacob Pitts) who, in his jealousy over his teammates’ success, sabotages the scam, a couple of their non-descript teammates (Aaron Yoo and Liza Lapiza), Ben’s neglected, robot obsessed, nerd buddies (Josh Gad and Sam Golzari), and all the sites and sounds of Boston jostling with a heavy dose of Las Vegas glam and glitz. The result is exactly what you’d expect out of a Hollywood rendition of an M.I.T. gambling story: professional flash, absurd suspense, and a barrel of half-hearted twists to wrap the whole thing up.

Personally, I was fairly entertained by 21. However, the reason for my paying close attention was because I lived in Boston while the movie was filmed. I legitimately saw the crew at five different locations during their year or so filming and recognized just about every Boston shot in the movie. If you’re not familiar with the area, however, as is the case for most moviegoers, then I suspect your level of entertainment might be severely less than a guy who is always happy to point out, “hey look, there’s the Christian Science Building! That’s the M.I.T. Bridge! Etc. Etc.”

Bottom line: if you know Boston and get a thrill seeing it on the big screen then 21 is your latest Good Will Hunting Boston travelogue. If you don’t know Boston and couldn’t care less then 21 is just another faceless movie in the crowd, an average, easily forgettable film that is fine in a bored pinch but otherwise hardly worth your time.