21 - The Movie: 50/50 on The Tomato Meter

With only 12 reviews in for the movie "21", the film has hardly scored a blackjack among film critics in its initial screening.

While the film doesn't officially open until March 28, a number of Rotten Tomatoes film critics have reviewed the film and thus far, reaction has been mixed.

Glitzy on the surface, Luketic's fact-inspired fantasy-adventure is yet another Faustian morality tale, but as scripted it defies narrative logic and has too many implausible twists and turns and at least three endings, writes Emanuel Levy of  EmanuelLevy.com

On the other hand, there was Peter Travers of RollingStone.  He thoroughly enjoyed it.

Odds are you're going to like this lively spin on the true story of six MIT mathletes who broke the Vegas bank in the 1990s. Loosely adapted from Ben Mezrich's best-selling Bringing Down the House, the movie stretches facts like taffy but never shirks its responsibility to entertain.

The film is based on the best-selling book by Ben Mezrich, Bringing Down the House. The film is scheduled for release on March 28, 2008. Gambling911.com will be attending an advance screening of the movie next week.

Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a shy, brilliant MIT student who – needing to pay school tuition – finds the answers in the cards. He is recruited to join a group of the school’s most gifted students that heads to Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack in their favor. With unorthodox math professor and stats genius Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) leading the way, they’ve cracked the code. By counting cards and employing an intricate system of signals, the team can beat the casinos big time. Seduced by the money, the Vegas lifestyle, and by his smart and sexy teammate, Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), Ben begins to push the limits. Though counting cards isn’t illegal, the stakes are high, and the challenge becomes not only keeping the numbers straight, but staying one step ahead of the casino's menacing enforcer, Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne).

Two of the main characters from Bringing Down The House, Kevin Lewis and Jason Fisher, are in real life Jeff Ma and Mike Aponte. Our own Anna Casada has secured an interview with Mr. Ma.

All told, Ma is believed to have taken anywhere from $3 million - $5 million over the course of his five years spent working with other students on the M.I.T. Blackjack Team, according to Corey Spring of UWeekly.com.

The initial buzz for "21" has been hot, especially since the flick is being well advertised during two of televisions highest rated shows: American Idol and Dancing With the Stars.

Based on reviews, those who like gambling (especially casino blackjack) will enjoy the film. 

Prairie Miller of NewsBlaze.com, who liked the film, probably said it best.

Treating blackjack as an exciting spectator sport rather than, say, about as thrilling for some as watching fishing for two hours, this offbeat cautionary tale warns all those impulsive casino-bound eggheads out there that losers come in all IQ's. 

And how about an actual gambler or someone who follows the lifestyle.

John from New York:

"I saw the movie 21 several times this week. Good story but a bad ending."

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Anna Casada, Gambling911.com

Originally published March 25, 2008 11:48 pm EST