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.
Comment
03/31/08
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21 (2008)
27
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:30
Fresh:8
Rotten:22
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: 21 could have been a fascinating study had it not supplanted the true story on which it is based with mundane melodrama.
Theatrical Release:Mar 28, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $81,159,365
Synopsis: Inspired by a true story, 21 mixes Las Vegas casino wheeling and dealing with college-kid angst: think OCEAN'S ELEVEN via THE PAPER CHASE. Kevin Spacey is crafty MIT professor Micky Rosa, who... [More]
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne
Director: Robert Luketic
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Reviews for 21
Top CriticAlthough 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.
03/31/08
Top CriticInspired 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.
03/28/08
Top CriticA movie with an irresistible premise that ultimately collapses around the whole issue of motivation.
03/28/08
Top CriticReal-life rags-to-riches Vegas scheme makes for glossy if lightweight fun.
03/28/08
Top CriticRepetitive, implausible and overlong.
03/28/08
Top CriticWhen Spacey and Fishburne really go at each other, 21 finally starts to add up to something.
03/28/08
Top CriticA none-too-winning blend of the unsettling and the unsurprising.
03/28/08
Top CriticThis is really Spacey's picture, from the moment he fixes his gaze on Sturgess to the day when he finally, brutally cuts him loose. It's a fun performance, but a quiet one.
03/28/08
Top CriticThe fascinating story of six college students who took Las Vegas for millions gets dealt a bad hand in 21, which turns their true-life saga into a slick, shallow and thoroughly generic caper flick.
03/28/08
Top CriticThere's enough action here to keep you awake, but don't expect to walk away a winner.
03/28/08
Top Critic21 is penny-ante entertainment.
03/28/08
Top CriticWhen the makers of the blackjack drama 21 stepped up to the table to place their bets, they opted to play it safe.
03/28/08
Top CriticAdd it up and, in the game that pits your entertainment dollar against entertainment value, know this: The house wins again.
03/28/08
Top CriticIt's disposable, watchable and forgettable filmmaking for would-be easy millionaires.
03/28/08
Top CriticThe film is about a group of MIT students who used a very smart card-counting system to milk the casinos. But the movie blows off the deeper thrills of its source material to make a tidier, less compelling amorality play.
03/28/08
Top CriticWhile you may stick with the film -- it's a slick time-waster -- you never believe it.
03/28/08
Top CriticBy the time the end credits roll around, you realize nothing's actually been risked. It's the gambling equivalent of Go Fish.
03/28/08
Top Critic21 makes for some slick escapist fantasy. Even if, and because, the fantasy has its roots in something real.
03/27/08
Top CriticGreed is good and comes without a hint of conscience in 21, a feature-length bore about some smarty-pants who take Vegas for a ride.
03/27/08
Top CriticLatest News for 21
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July 21, 2008:
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May 07, 2008:
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