This movie's script sticks so closely to formula that it could be a film school project.
21 (2008)
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne
Screenwriter: Peter Steinfeld, Allan Loeb
Producer: Dana Brunetti, Kevin Spacey, Michael De Luca
Composer: David Sardy
Reviews
Despite primal instincts and fast-moving montages, 21 is a tired, music video-style fable.
Given 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.
There is a message about life, money and happiness in here somewhere but it’s undone by a contrived ending.
The 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.
The 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.
For a film about gambling, you don’t actually see enough of it to satisfy.
21 rarely flags in its ability to entertain, but is never particularly convincing.
21 is a fast-paced tale that makes winning look not only easy, but a lot of fun.
(The book) raises a number of interesting arguments, most of which (the movie) ignores.
The only element in 21 that saves the film from being a dreary coming-of-age story grafted onto a two-hour commercial for the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Bureau is Spacey.
O implaus?l terceiro ato praticamente arru? o que o filme vinha mostrando de interessante at?nt?
Too bad most of the performers can't seem to pull off the insane IQs they clearly do not have.
For a movie about high-stakes gambling, 21 settles for penny-ante dramatics.
Treating card playing as an exciting spectator sport rather than, say, about as thrilling 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.
This is a really stupid movie about such smart people... When they make references to Ferris Bueller and Swingers, it just feels desperate.
In real life gambling is exciting; on movie screens it generally is not.
For most of its length, 21 seems like a cautionary tale ... at least, until the whole point is negated by a tacked-on happy ending.
Fun and nothing else, but enough so that it's worth the while.
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