If the experience of the real-life MIT students who beat Las Vegas was as dreary as 21, what happened in Vegas should have stayed in Vegas.
Comment
03/28/08
21 (2008)
35
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
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
Reviews for 21
A movie with an irresistible premise that ultimately collapses around the whole issue of motivation.
03/28/08
Similar to the caper he’s shooting, Legally Blonde director Robert Luketic’s plan doesn’t exactly go off without a hitch.
03/28/08
Real-life rags-to-riches Vegas scheme makes for glossy if lightweight fun.
03/28/08
Top CriticRepetitive, implausible and overlong.
03/28/08
The end result is still utterly predictable, thoroughly disposable and less true than truthy.
03/28/08
When Spacey and Fishburne really go at each other, 21 finally starts to add up to something.
03/28/08
The movie is oddly structured, taking too long to set up a premise that anyone who has seen an ad for 21 already knows and that I just managed to encapsulate in one sentence.
03/28/08
21 doesn't quite hit the jackpot, but with popcorn it should satisfy.
03/28/08
[21] devoted to the idea that beating Vegas is man's highest purpose.
03/28/08
A none-too-winning blend of the unsettling and the unsurprising.
03/28/08
There's a gap between what we're told about its characters and what we can see for ourselves, a gap that gets larger and more frustrating as the film goes on.
03/28/08
Before sinking into a predictable morality tale, 21 coasts on the superficial thrill of watching casinos take a few hits, but gamblers looking for a how-to lesson on winning in Vegas will be putting their pencils down pretty quickly.
03/28/08
This 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
The 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
There's enough action here to keep you awake, but don't expect to walk away a winner.
03/28/08
...a picture that's pleasurable to give in to and go along with.
03/28/08
21 is penny-ante entertainment.
03/28/08
Like a gambler who won't cash in while he's ahead, 21 just keeps playing, hoping another winning hand will turn up even though its luck's run out.
03/28/08
[It's] not unlike feeding one nickel after another into a slot machine in search of a modest payoff.
03/28/08
Latest News for 21
January 07, 2009:
People's Choice Awards Winners Announced
The 35th annual People's Choice Awards were handed out on January 7, 2009. A complete list of film nominees, with winners in bold, follows below. More...
July 23, 2008:
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. 
More...
July 21, 2008:
RT on DVD: Geek Alert! Spaced Exclusive, Robot Chicken Star Wars
This week we're going in-depth with a look at this week's highly anticipated cult television series, Spaced. If you like Brit comedies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, then... More...
May 07, 2008:
UK Box Office Breakdown: Summer Season Begins With a Bang
Summer box office season began with a bang last Friday, with Iron Man the first of the pumped up, big-budget teen-friendly blockbusters to emerge from the bowels of the... More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds