Saturday, March 29, 2008

WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER: 21 isn't a perfect film by any means, but that doesn't mean it's not a lot of good fun. The basic story's been well publicized--team of MIT math whizzes, with the help of a professor, tries to take Vegas for all it's worth with an elaborate card counting plan. Needless to say, infighting and fights with casino staff ensue. Kevin Spacey is pretty damn great as the professor who brings the team together, finally finding a role that allows him to pitch his performance just right rather than over the top (though he crosses that line in the film's last act), and for the first time in her relatively short career, Kate Bosworth is memorable rather than just being a blank slate. Sure, I called several of the plot twists well in advance (though a few still caught me by surprise), but it's still a good time.

Yes, there's been some controversy about lack of faithfulness to the real events that inspired the film, but the story changes from the book are largely for the better--in the book, there's no clear villain who gets a comeuppance at the end. Here, there is. One thing that bugged, though--one of the "big scores" is at the Riviera--based on my limited experience there, young, high rolling dot com billionaire types (the cover used by the team) would be entirely out of place there, with its aisle upon aisle of people mechanically pulling the slots.

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