New and familiar faces come together in 21
Sarah Brown
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Entertainment
By Sarah Brown
In the adventurous movie, "21," Jim Sturges appears in his first movie as Ben Campbell, a young and intelligent student at M.I.T. who strives to succeed.
Ben (Sturges) badly wants a scholarship to Harvard Medical School and has a passion to become a Doctor. Ben learns that he can't afford the $300,000 in tuition money for the four to five years of school since he comes from a lower class background.
Out of nowhere, his eccentric math professor Micky Rosa (played by Kevin Spacey), introduces him to a small yet guarded club of five students being trained by Professor Rosa in the skill of Blackjack card counting.
With this in mind, Ben joins his new friends on secret trips to Vegas, winning thousands of dollars at Blackjack in casino after casino. Only when Ben wants to back out after making so much money does his desire to earn enough for tuition corrupt him.
Ben starts to ignore and lie to his friends and family and is eventually forced to stop working on a prized project of his. Ben ends up losing an enormous amount of money in one night, which forces Mr.. Rosa to leave, yet Ben tries to win Mr. Rosa back to help him regain that fortune. Little does Mr. Rosa know that Ben's plan is to trick him as revenge for stealing Ben's only savings from his dorm room, leaving Mr. Rosa to be caught by Security. Ben is let off the hook, but because of constant card-dealing and arrogance, Ben puts his group of classmates, including Jill (Kate Bosworth) and Mr.. Rosa (Spacey), on the radar of a casino security enforcer (Laurence Fishburne) who holds a grudge against Mr.. Rosa and threatens to undo everything the students have learned and earned.
This movie is graced by some new faces and other more familiar ones. Newcomer Jim Sturgess plays Ben Campbell, the protagonist M.I.T. student who happens to be incredibly good with numbers, based on the true-life character Jeff Ma. Kevin Spacey's character was inspired by a combination of J.P. Massar and Johnny Change, the corrupt leader of the Blackjack team. Laurence Fishburne, a familiar face from the Matrix Trilogy, plays Cole Williams, a casino security guard who is determined to take the team out. Kate Bosworth also makes a splash as Jill Taylor, a classmate and member of Blackjack Team, based on Jane Willis. Other cast members include newcomers Liza Lapira (as Kianna), Josh Gad (as Miles Connolly), Sam Golzari (based on Matt Lau), Jacob Pitts (as Fisher, based on Mike Aponte), Jack McGee (as Terry) and Roger Dillingham, Jr. (as a head bouncer). Robert Luketic directs this Drama, released on March 28 about the five M.I.T. students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. This is inspired by the true story of the students who changed the game forever. Luketic thought this would make a true, yet mind-blowing and secretive hit.
After seeing this movie and observing reviews, I couldn't agree more. "21" will keep you on your toes and is a movie I would most definitely add to my collection. If I could play blackjack like the characters in this movie, I would fly myself to Vegas and give it my best shot. Just watching the signals and trying to learn the lingo throughout the movie was insane and I was in awe by how fast they played, how quickly they made decisions and the cards they drew.
The movie was worth seeing and if you haven't seen it already, then what are you waiting for? Go find a theatre near you and learn how you can win at Blackjack!
In the adventurous movie, "21," Jim Sturges appears in his first movie as Ben Campbell, a young and intelligent student at M.I.T. who strives to succeed.
Ben (Sturges) badly wants a scholarship to Harvard Medical School and has a passion to become a Doctor. Ben learns that he can't afford the $300,000 in tuition money for the four to five years of school since he comes from a lower class background.
Out of nowhere, his eccentric math professor Micky Rosa (played by Kevin Spacey), introduces him to a small yet guarded club of five students being trained by Professor Rosa in the skill of Blackjack card counting.
With this in mind, Ben joins his new friends on secret trips to Vegas, winning thousands of dollars at Blackjack in casino after casino. Only when Ben wants to back out after making so much money does his desire to earn enough for tuition corrupt him.
Ben starts to ignore and lie to his friends and family and is eventually forced to stop working on a prized project of his. Ben ends up losing an enormous amount of money in one night, which forces Mr.. Rosa to leave, yet Ben tries to win Mr. Rosa back to help him regain that fortune. Little does Mr. Rosa know that Ben's plan is to trick him as revenge for stealing Ben's only savings from his dorm room, leaving Mr. Rosa to be caught by Security. Ben is let off the hook, but because of constant card-dealing and arrogance, Ben puts his group of classmates, including Jill (Kate Bosworth) and Mr.. Rosa (Spacey), on the radar of a casino security enforcer (Laurence Fishburne) who holds a grudge against Mr.. Rosa and threatens to undo everything the students have learned and earned.
This movie is graced by some new faces and other more familiar ones. Newcomer Jim Sturgess plays Ben Campbell, the protagonist M.I.T. student who happens to be incredibly good with numbers, based on the true-life character Jeff Ma. Kevin Spacey's character was inspired by a combination of J.P. Massar and Johnny Change, the corrupt leader of the Blackjack team. Laurence Fishburne, a familiar face from the Matrix Trilogy, plays Cole Williams, a casino security guard who is determined to take the team out. Kate Bosworth also makes a splash as Jill Taylor, a classmate and member of Blackjack Team, based on Jane Willis. Other cast members include newcomers Liza Lapira (as Kianna), Josh Gad (as Miles Connolly), Sam Golzari (based on Matt Lau), Jacob Pitts (as Fisher, based on Mike Aponte), Jack McGee (as Terry) and Roger Dillingham, Jr. (as a head bouncer). Robert Luketic directs this Drama, released on March 28 about the five M.I.T. students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. This is inspired by the true story of the students who changed the game forever. Luketic thought this would make a true, yet mind-blowing and secretive hit.
After seeing this movie and observing reviews, I couldn't agree more. "21" will keep you on your toes and is a movie I would most definitely add to my collection. If I could play blackjack like the characters in this movie, I would fly myself to Vegas and give it my best shot. Just watching the signals and trying to learn the lingo throughout the movie was insane and I was in awe by how fast they played, how quickly they made decisions and the cards they drew.
The movie was worth seeing and if you haven't seen it already, then what are you waiting for? Go find a theatre near you and learn how you can win at Blackjack!
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