I did not see this movie in the theaters because I wasn’t too sure on whether or not it would all that good. I generally tend to be suspicious when a film centers around a concept that seems generally small like card playing. It turns out my suspicions were right. The film follows the lives of the MIT blackjack team and their weekend trips to Vegas in attempts to outsmart dealers and card count their way to large sums of money.
Likes: The most interesting part is the fact that it was based on a true story. I thought for the most part it was ably acted. It entertained throughout and I rarely got bored with it.
Dislikes: After looking up the actual story it is quite disappointing how it was portrayed on the big screen. Smaller roles from Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne were probably the best performances and I felt like they could have been used a little more. I thought the overall plot was a little bland and didn’t have enough substance to carry a two hour film.
Overall: I probably wouldn’t recommend this film to anyone but the most interested gamblers. If you are looking for a good film in this genre I would argue that you would have a much better time with Rounders, starring Matt Damon and Ed Norton. As Far as 21 goes I would give it 2 “R’s” out of 5.
