The whizzo-conceit and slick visual bling do give it an undeniably diverting buzz, yet the movie's cautionary formula shows its hand way before the clunky final reel.
It's a slick enough movie, with an intriguing enough concept. It would be a much more enjoyable movie, however, if the wheels didn't come off script-wise.
Inspired by the real-life story of the M.I.T. students who took Las Vegas casinos for millions, 21 has been reshaped to fit a simple movie template -- and it's nearly as much fun as watching an insurance professional compute actuarial tables.
The students are so blandly written this never builds any suspense, though it probably has some value as an empowerment fantasy for debt-ridden collegians.
Although it's definitely a fictionalization of a true story, they get the essence of this insanely crazy double life that these kids led as they were breaking the bank in Vegas.
Fayetteville Free Weekly
February 02, 2009
When the movie 21 was announced with Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne, it sounded like a winner. When everybody else involved in 21 was mentioned, it was doomed to be a loser.
If only director Robert Luketic and screenwriters Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb had not opted for glitz. As filmmakers, they're playing for very low stakes.
