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21 (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray] | ![21 (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51A0bfJB4OL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Actors: Kieu Chinh, Laurence Fishburne, Jack Gilpin, Jack Mcgee, Kevin Spacey
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $38.96
Buy Used: $7.69
You Save: $31.27 (80%)
New (40) Used (22) from $7.69
Rating:  95 reviews
Sales Rank: 2403
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), Chinese (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Korean (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: Blu-ray
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 123 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: COLBR21529
UPC: 043396215290
EAN: 0043396215290
ASIN: B0018CWW6O
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: July 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Complete with original disc(s), case, and artwork. In stock and ships today.
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Product Description
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 07/22/2008 Run time: 123 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com
An unconvincing exercise in moral complexity, 21 is based on Ben Mezrich's book Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) plays brilliant, blue-collar scholar Ben Campbell, whose doubts that he'll win a scholarship to Harvard Medical School compel him to join a secret, M.I.T. gang of math whiz kids. Under the silky but chilling command of a math professor (Kevin Spacey), Jim and the others master card counting, i.e., the statistical analysis of cards dealt in blackjack games. The team lives a humdrum existence during the week, but on weekends in Sin City, the students are rolling in cash, going to exclusive clubs, and feeling on top of the world. (Ben even gets the girl: a comely, fellow counter played by Kate Bosworth.) Despite all that success, Ben feels ethically compromised, and indeed director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde), in the old tradition of American movies, plays it both ways where fun vices are concerned. On the one hand, it feels so good; on the other, ahem, we know it's wrong. That studied ambivalence proves wearing after a while, making the most interesting character in the film a casino watchdog played by Laurence Fishburne. A master at reading the emotions of gamblers beating the house with a scam, he's admirable for being good at his job, but repellent for wrecking the faces of counters in casino dungeons. He's all about moral complexity in the tradition of anti-heroes, and a truly provocative element in an otherwise superficial movie. --Tom Keogh
Beyond 21 
Two-disc Special Edition DVD | 
Read the book 21 was based on | 
UMD for PSP | Stills from 21 (click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 90 more reviews...
 Predictable and boring really January 8, 2009
Bill Evanochko (Sudbury On Canada)
This could have had so much more but poor boy wants to have enough money to go to medical school. Has an aptitude for counting cards. You can fill in the rest. Its predictable and not very exciting.
 Pure Hollywood and a lot of fun, but unrealistic, even though based on a true story December 26, 2008
Craig Clarke (New England)
Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a brilliant MIT student on his way to Harvard Medical School. He's already been accepted, but the money is an issue. Ben is up for a full scholarship, but so are 76 other people, and he has spent so much time studying, he's had little opportunity for the "life experience" the scholarship board seeks from that one "dazzling" candidate that deserves the $300,000 free ride.
So, when his Nonlinear Equations professor, Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey), recruits him to his team of other brilliant students to count cards in Las Vegas casinos, he reluctantly accepts -- on the condition that once he's earned the three-hundred grand, he's out.
Spacey is electric as Professor Rosa, but it's Sturgess's work as Ben Campbell that grounds this flight of fancy in reality. He is instantly likable, and his troubles are relatable, even though few people have actually experienced them. Laurence Fishburne also has a nice turn as ultra-intimidating security man Cole Williams, a man who does whatever it takes to keep his job in an increasingly computer-controlled arena.
Though it's supposedly based on a true story, 21 is pure Hollywood all the way. From its underprivileged hero given the opportunity of a lifetime, to its instant inclusion of the hero's dream love interest (here Kate Bosworth), to how Ben drops his geek friends once he gets the chance to hang out with cooler people, to how the student surpasses the teacher.
The first portion of the movie is so predictable, in fact -- and so spelled-out for the general audience -- that it's a struggle just to get through to the interesting portion: the actual Vegas scenes. As a whole, however, 21 is a lot of fun, and I was surprised at how much I thought about it after it was over, especially that insipid but catchy phrase, "Winner, winner, chicken dinner."
Glamorous does not equal better December 22, 2008
Nathan Beauchamp (Oak Park, IL USA)
The story of how several MIT students were able to beat Vegas at their own game is compelling and entertaining. Unfortunately, it's told in a book titled Bringing Down the House not this movie. While based on the factual account of extremely bright card counters who devised a system capable of generating a very favorable win ratio in Black Jack, 21 delivers very little of that true story. Instead, it focuses on sensationalizing elements of the story and dramatically over simplifying others. It provides a glamorous but empty portrayal of characters who in real life were very interesting and intelligent.
Card counting, as represented in this movie, hardly requires anything more than an average IQ and the ability to count quickly, not the gifted mind of a top MIT student. Frankly, this has been simplified so that the viewer is able to grasp the key concepts; not a bad idea in itself since not everyone is a gifted mathematician, but they've gone too far and left the viewer wondering what, if anything, makes the protagonist Ben Campbell or any of his cohorts special. As portrayed in 21, it seems that anyone could practice counting cards in their basements for several months and then go make unlimited amounts of money in Vegas. There are ways to make material accessible to the audience without over simplifying it to the level of silliness. The Paper Chase is a good example of how to do this tastefully.
Over simplification is not the only issue in 21. Other elements have been made glamorous where unnecessary, sometimes with a level of implausibility that is laughable. The worst of these would require providing spoilers, but there are a few worth mentioning. First, these wildly intelligent card counters, led by a street-smart proffer played by a well cast Kevin Spacey, are always frequenting night clubs, sleeping in luxury casino penthouses, and in general drawing massive amounts of attention to themselves, all while purportedly trying to stay under the radar of the Casinos and their eye-in-the-sky security experts. This is ridiculous. Not even Lawrence Fishburn's entirely convincing and frightening portrayal of an old-school casino security chief can save this movie from dreary implausibility. Second, the interplay between the students are based on silly cliche. These same 'brilliant' students cannot seem to remember their own basic set of rules, or even follow basic Black Jack strategy when they are either fatigued, angry, etc... That is a blatant, undercutting reversal of what is supposed to make them who they are: an icy ability to calculate odds and stick to a system.
Spacey and Fishburn make the movie less of an ordeal, but they're not enough to save this one from itself. Some of the dialogue is pretty interesting, especially the interplay between the protagonist Ben and his cut-throat professor. The psychological underpinnings of the relationships between Ben, the professor, and the former premier card counter whom Ben has supplanted could have been a dramatic gold mine, but these interactions are left on the sidelines in a movie more concerned about driving the plot forward than telling a great story.
Overall, 21 is worth watching simply because its the next closest thing to the excellent book on which it is based. This is a rent not a buy. 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 because of Spacey and Fishburn.
 cool movie December 20, 2008
Bethany B. Mckeel (Smithfield, NC)
the movie was great,, and its based on a true story,, so cool !!
by 3 stars i actually mean 2.5 stars December 15, 2008
Bridget Niki (Georgia)
The best (and most realistic) part of this movie was when the guys were playing basketball and were playing out of breath and just passing the ball around. Its how nerds play b'ball. I was kind of disappointed because you didnt learn any tricks or techniques. Spacey's character was a little too monotone and uninvolved and Bosworth's hair was a hot Dumb and Dumber bowl without the bangs mess. 21 is something you watch to see events unfold.
Plot: This guy needs $300k for Harvard Medical School. He has an $8/hour job. Spacey's character is a teacher who invites him to count cards at blackjack and go to Vegas to win some cash. The students use hand signals to say whether a table is hot or cold (one of the hand signals is really obvious it almost looks like a baseball play). Small twists and turns exist that make the movie not incredibly obvious to watch. The acting is just so-so and there were no incredibly cool, whiz kid, "ballin" scenes.
A GOOD gambling movie is Rounders.
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