"21" (2008) - Movie Review

“21” has the scenes wherein it has the uniqueness of not having single uniqueness. A cute nerd and a hottie, then there is a charismatic father figure with couple of elements needed for the thrill they all seek. In this subgenre of intelligent thriller in a commercial formula, the plot is developed on a single line thrill factor. And in this case, it evolves from true events. A secretive club in MIT with brainiacs goes Las Vegas over the weekend to apply their math skills over the table. Very good premise and as a formula it has been tweaked nicely to start off but just as the young genius Ben Campbell’s (Jim Sturgess) character dissipates in the film, it departs from us consuming to its monotonous story telling.

Ben needs money to cover his Harvard Medical School. Professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) finds him in his class where he shyly astounds with a solution of his own. He is surgical in handling a problem mathematically and from that assuming it to real life. He has two other nerds Miles (Josh Gad) and Cam (Sam Golzari) who ogle with painful desperation on the girls the frat guys have fun with in the MIT bar. Obviously Ben has to reject and then accept. Once that part is done, he needs to shine. He needs have an envious rival, Fisher (Jacob Pitts), the prettiest girl to romance upon Jill (Kate Bosworth), then two side kicks Choi (Aaron Yoo) and Kianna (Liza Lapira) for kicks. Rise and fall to the universal circle of life. There needs to be a clean cut to make for an ending to cover the bases. Are we sitting through a boring lecture?

Films like “21” are not Oscar Winners or art house projects but a crowd pleaser, especially a young crowd. It has the charming guy, an attractive lady, great cast of Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne to invite for disaster show. “21” keeps you worked up with its method of counting and how intuitively and intelligently Ben applies it across the casinos. I did not understand the pluses and minuses but that does not matter. Because it is not a sports film and that trumps the main thick plot the whole film was developed upon.

Spacey and Fishburne walk their roles, if that’s what it is been called. Believe me I look forward for films in commercial lanes because I like to be relaxed and nullify the angle to micromanage the characters once in a while during the films. So when entering a cinema hall for a film on that cadre, I wish to be in a serene place of illogical and baseless work of rules. But when “21” pulls me from the space to seriously consider the options of that in string of events testing my predictability skills, it annoys me. More than a boring film is a film which annoys you. Taunts you in the assumption of how brilliant they have been showing the film and how the entertaining values are all out there to please every one. That stand aggravates and accumulates in to look for the exit door as soon as the film is over. I have created this obligation to myself on not walking out of a film. “21” does not make me do that but immediately when it got over, I wish it made me to earlier.