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Reviews Counted:160
Fresh:56
Rotten:104
Average Rating:5.2/10
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:11-04-2008
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
As ever with gambling films, it's difficult to convey the thrill of winning at second hand; the human-interest complications are unconvincing and Spacey himself, I'm afraid, is a lugubrious and deadening presence.
Top CriticSpacey makes a nicely chilly villain and Bosworth a warm and glamorous leading lady, if an implausible maths genius.
Disappointing thriller that's let down by a tedious script, a frankly ridiculous final act and some dodgy overacting by Kevin Spacey.
This movie's script sticks so closely to formula that it could be a film school project.
Despite primal instincts and fast-moving montages, 21 is a tired, music video-style fable.
Top CriticGiven the true story that inspired it, 21 really should have been a sure-fire bet. As it is, it’s a split hand that only pays off thanks to Fishburne and Spacey. Still beats Lucky You, though.
Sturgess quietly sparkles as the born loser who struggles to adapt to life on winners' row.
Top CriticThere is a message about life, money and happiness in here somewhere but it’s undone by a contrived ending.
Top CriticThe whizzo-conceit and slick visual bling do give it an undeniably diverting buzz, yet the movie’s cautionary formula shows its hand way before the clunky final reel.
Top CriticThe Ocean’s Eleven: The College Years mood makes for a breezy good time, even if there is, like Vegas, precious little substance beneath the glitz.
Top CriticLuketic's dunderheaded, would-be caper is a morality tale where the only moral at stake is the dullard-hero's thoughtless entitlement
It's a slick enough movie, with an intriguing enough concept. It would be a much more enjoyable movie, however, if the wheels didn't come off script-wise.
One can't help but think there was a smarter film to be made from this premise.
When the movie 21 was announced with Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne, it sounded like a winner. When everybody else involved in 21 was mentioned, it was doomed to be a loser.
If only director Robert Luketic and screenwriters Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb had not opted for glitz. As filmmakers, they're playing for very low stakes.
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This is a prime example of a movie that isn't bad, per se, just unnecessary, a competently made but wholly unremarkable trifle.
See this for the sheer fascination of it.
Regardless whether there are a number of clichés and plot incongruities, this entertaining and fast-paced flick will find an audience hoping to learn how to beat the dealer.
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