Eric D. Snider
21
Movie Review
"21"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: C+
Rating: PG-13
Released: Friday, March 28, 2008
Directed by:
Cast:
In "21," an M.I.T. math whiz joins a secret cabal of card-counters who fly to Vegas on the weekends to make a killing at the blackjack tables. That's the hook, the part you might not have seen in a thousand other films. But the rest is as generic as the title ("21"? Really? That's the best you could come up with?), a story about a nobody who becomes a somebody, forsakes his friends, and learns What's Really Important.
Yawn is right. This is a prime example of a movie that isn't bad, per se, just unnecessary, a competently made but wholly unremarkable trifle. It trades exclusively in clichés and stock characters -- and yet, strangely, director Robert Luketic ("Legally Blonde") seems to believe he has made something compelling and original. And I have to think, if I'VE seen lots of movies exactly like this one, then shouldn't Luketic have done so as well?
[To read the rest of the review, please visit Cinematical.]
Grade: C+
Rated PG-13, a little profanity, brief partial nudity, some mild sexuality, a little violence
1 hr., 58 min.
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This item has 2 comments
April 3, 2008 at 7:58 am
This is, quite possibly, the only time I have thought you were wrong, Eric. It seems you've missed the point of 21 completely. In other films portraying evil, sin, temptation, etc, it tends to be hokey and unbelievable as a real-life possibility. In 21 the temptation is so near, so easy and so harmless- you can either do it or not- it wouldn't affect you, either way. That's the only thing that makes evil possible- apathy.
21 shows the slight, gentle hand of evil in a relationship between Sturgess and Spacey that is so subtle and comprehendable- from mentor to friend to protector and admirer- and when Spacey lashes out like the devil himself; you realize that your life is no longer your own, your choices are not your own. He owns you.
April 3, 2008 at 9:12 am
I didn't like this movie. It was extremely boring, particularly if you consider the subject matter and the hijinks they got up to. I really recommend the book, though. The book is great.
I even recommend the documentary (Discovery Channel? History? Travel? one of those channels) over the movie.
The movie, by the way, only bears a fleeting resemblance to the book.