21

21
Promotional poster
Directed by	Robert Luketic
Produced by	Kevin Spacey Brett Ratner Dana Brunetti Michael DeLuca
Written by	Ben Mezrich Peter Steinfeld Allan Loeb
Starring	Jim Sturgess Kevin Spacey Kate Bosworth Laurence Fishburne Aaron Yoo Liza Lapira Josh Gad Jacob Pitts
Music by	David Sardy
Cinematography	Russell Carpenter
Editing by	Elliot Graham
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	United States: March 28, 2008
Running time	123 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$35 million
Gross revenue	$157,927,340

21 is a 2008 drama film from Columbia Pictures. It is directed by Australian director Robert Luketic and stars Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Jacob Pitts, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoo, and Liza Lapira. The film is inspired by the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team as told in Bringing Down the House, the best-selling book by Ben Mezrich.

Plot

MIT senior math major Ben Campbell is accepted into Harvard Medical School but cannot afford the $300,000 cost. Despite boasting a high 44 MCAT score and a 4.0 GPA, Ben faces fierce competition for the prestigious Robinson Scholarship which would provide a "free ride" through medical school. He is told that he needs a way of "dazzling" Harvard in some way to stand out from the other well-qualified applicants.

One day in math class, Professor Micky Rosa challenges Campbell with the Monty Hall problem, which Campbell solves successfully by using variable change and simple math. Seeing talent, Rosa invites Campbell to join his blackjack team, which consists of fellow students Choi, Fisher, Jill, and Kianna. The system involves card counting, and the team—shepherded by Rosa—is split into two groups. "Spotters" play the minimum bet and keep track of the count. They send secret signals to the "big players," who place large bets whenever the count at a table is favorable. Campbell is unsure at first, but decides to join the team, telling Rosa he is only doing so until he can pay for medical school.

Rosa takes the team to Las Vegas over many weekends; Campbell comes to enjoy his luxurious lifestyle there. His performance as a "big player" impresses Rosa, but Fisher becomes jealous at Campbell's blackjack success. Rosa kicks a drunken Fisher off the team after he insults Campbell and incites a melee that requires the team to quickly "cash out" (using dancers from their usual strip-club meeting place) before the casino switches chips. Ben and Jill also develop a mutual attraction, which culminates in the pair having a sexual encounter in Jill's suite. Meanwhile, security chief Cole Williams and his sidekick Terry monitors the blackjack team, particularly Campbell.

Campbell, distracted by blackjack, botches his part of a project for an engineering competition, estranging him from his pre-blackjack friends. During the next trip to Vegas, an emotionally-distracted Campbell continues playing even after he is signaled to walk away, losing $200,000. An angry Rosa leaves the team and demands Campbell repay him for the loss. Campbell and his three remaining teammates agree to go into business for themselves. On their first attempt, Williams apprehends Campbell, physically assails him, then lets him go after giving him a death threat.

Upon his return to Boston, Campbell learns that he has been given an incomplete for one of his classes and therefore will not graduate, and worse, that his winnings have been stolen from his dorm room. He suspects that Rosa is behind everything but has no evidence. Campbell reconciles with his friends and Jill, and approaches Rosa with an offer: he and the team will hit Vegas for one more attempt before the last Strip casinos install biometric software that will quickly identify card counters, as long as Rosa, himself once a very successful "big player," also plays.

Disguised, the team returns to the Planet Hollywood and win $640,000 before fleeing with their chips from Williams and his men. Campbell and Rosa split up, with Rosa taking the bag of chips. Rosa escapes with the intention of stealing the winnings, telling his limo driver to take him to the airport, but finds his bag is full of chocolate coins and his limo is being driven by the casino manager.

The audience then learns that Williams had made a deal with Campbell after beating him up; Williams wants Rosa, who years earlier cost Williams a casino job by winning a seven-figure take in a single weekend through counting cards. Williams' business since then has been in decline, as one casino after another opts for biometric software over his more personal approach. Williams will let Campbell come to Vegas for one last night to make a lot of money in exchange for giving him Rosa. Campbell's pre-blackjack friends joined the team to help their friend. After capturing Rosa, Williams confronts Campbell and double-crosses him by demanding the bag of chips at gunpoint for his "retirement". Aware that Ben plans on attending medical school to be a doctor, he assures the young man that everything will work out for him in the end. Ben hands the money over to Williams and leaves. Moments later, Rosa is tied to a chair where Williams greets him, informing the professor that he will turn him over to the IRS for evading taxes on his winnings. Ben and Jill return to the casino to regroup with their friends. The film closes with Campbell recounting the entire tale to a "dazzled" Harvard administrator.

Cast

• Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell
• Kevin Spacey as Professor Micky Rosa
• Kate Bosworth as Jill Taylor
• Aaron Yoo as Choi
• Liza Lapira as Kianna
• Jacob Pitts as Jimmy Fisher
• Laurence Fishburne as Cole Williams
• Jack McGee as Terry
• Josh Gad as Miles Connoly
• Sam Golzari as Cam Azazi
• Helen Carey as Ellen Campbell
• Jack Gilpin as Bob Phillips
• Spencer Garrett as Stemple
• Jeff Ma (as Jeffrey Ma) as Planet Hollywood Dealer Jeff

This is the third film in which Spacey and Bosworth have starred together. The first was Beyond the Sea, which Spacey directed, and the second was Superman Returns. This is also the second film that Bosworth and director Luketic have made together, the first being Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!.

Casting controversy

Controversy arose over the decision to make the majority of the characters white, even though the main players in the book Bringing Down the House, upon which the film 21 is based, were mainly Asian. Studio executives determined that "most of the film's actors would be white, with perhaps an Asian female."^[1]

Nick Rogers of The Enterprise wrote "The real-life students mostly were Asian-Americans, but 21 whitewashes its cast and disappointingly lumps its only major Asian actors (Aaron Yoo and Liza Lapira) into one-note designations as the team's kleptomaniac and a slot-playing "loser."^[2]

Supporters of the decision to cast Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell claim that producers simply sought the best actor for the job, regardless of race. Ultimately, this meant passing over many Asian-American talents in favor of London-born Jim Sturgess, who required a dialect coach to speak with an American accent.^[3]

Jeff Ma, who was the real-life inspiration for the character Ben Campbell and served as a consultant on the film, was accused of being a "race traitor" on several blogs for not insisting that his character be Asian American. In response, Ma said, "I'm not sure they understand how little control I had in the movie-making process; I didn't get to cast it."^[4] Ma said that the controversy was "overblown" and that the important aspect is that a talented actor would portray him.^[5]

Production

21 began filming in March 2007.^[6] Principal filming of the Las Vegas scenes took place at the Planet Hollywood Casino and the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas. Filming also took place at Harvard Medical School,^[7] Chinatown, People's Republik in Cambridge, and the Christian Science Center in Boston, Massachusetts. As MIT did not allow filming on campus, the MIT school and dorm interiors, the gymnasium, and the alumni reception were all shot at Boston University.^[8]

Reception

Critical response

21 received mostly negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 35% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 160 reviews.^[9] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.^[10]

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $24,105,943 in 2,648 theaters in the United States and Canada, averaging $9,103 per venue and ranking first at the box office.^[11] The film was also the number one film in its second weekend of release, losing 36% of its audience, grossing $15,337,418, expanding to 2,653 theaters, and averaging $5,781 per venue. The film dropped to third place in its third weekend, losing 32% of its audience, grossing $10,470,173, expanding to 2,736 theaters, and averaging $3,827 per venue. By the fourth weekend it fell to sixth place, losing 47% of its audience, grossing $5,520,362 expanding to 2,903 theaters, and averaging $1,902 per venue.

By the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed a total of $157,802,470 worldwide — $81,159,365 in the United States and Canada and $76,643,105 in other territories, against a budget estimated at $35 million.^[12]

Home media

21 was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1 on July 22, 2008.^[13]

Reaction from casinos

In preproduction, the producers and the book's original writers predicted that the Vegas casinos would be unhelpful, as a film that told viewers the basics of card counting might hurt their bottom line. A featurette included with the DVD completely and accurately describes the "Hi-Lo" system used by the MIT Blackjack Club and by Rosa's team in the film.

In fact, the writers were surprised when told by the producers that MGM Studios would finance the film, though all "MGM" casinos (including one used by the real MIT Blackjack Team) are owned by MGM Mirage and are no longer related to MGM Studios. In reality, as another DVD featurette reveals, the casinos (including MGM Mirage) saw the film as an attention-getter; people who saw it would be encouraged to go to Vegas and play, attempting to count cards, when in reality the film withheld critical details (such as the conversion from the "base count" to a "true count"), and in any case, although the counting system is simple, it is more difficult to successfully make money at counting cards than the film portrays.

Soundtrack

21
Soundtrack by Various Artists
Released	March 18, 2008
Genre	Soundtrack
Label	Columbia
Professional reviews
Allmusic link

The soundtrack was released at the same time as the film.^[14]

1. The Rolling Stones—"You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Remixed by Soulwax) (6:07)
2. MGMT—"Time to Pretend" (Super Clean Version) (4:20)
3. LCD Soundsystem—"Big Ideas" (5:41)
4. D. Sardy featuring Liela Moss—"Giant" (3:42)
5. Amon Tobin—"Always" (3:38)
6. Peter Bjorn and John—"Young Folks" (4:37)
7. Junkie XL featuring Electrocute—"Mad Pursuit" (4:16)
8. Get Shakes—"Sister Self Doubt" (4:22)
9. The Aliens—"I Am The Unknown" (5:27)
10. Rihanna—"Shut Up And Drive" (3:34)
11. Knivez Out—"Alright" (3:31)
12. Domino—"Tropical Moonlight" (3:28)
13. Unkle—"Hold My Hand" (4:58)
14. Mark Ronson featuring Kasabian—"L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)" (3:32)
15. Broadcast—"Tender Buttons" (2:51)

Other tracks

• Although it is not included in the soundtrack, a remix of Moby's "Slippin' Away" plays in the scene when Ben is passing through airport security.^[15]
• The song "Everybody Get Dangerous" by Weezer was also featured in the film, but not included on the soundtrack since it was not yet released. It would later be released on Weezer's new record, The Red Album. It is played on a distant radio when the team is in a poker club.
• The songs "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick and "Music is Happiness" by The Octopus Project were also featured in the film but not on the soundtrack album.
• The song "Magnificent" by Estelle (feat. Kardinal Offishall) was also featured in the film but not on the soundtrack album. It's played approximately 58 minutes in, after the Weezer song, in the scene where Ben buys Jill a beer. It's subtle, and has a reggae beat.
• In the promotional trailers, "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" by The Doors was used.
• During the restaurant scene where the team explains to Ben how they work, "Home" by Great Northern can be heard playing in the background.
• The song "Again With The Subtitles" by Texas artist "Yppah" is another uncredited song in the film.
• The track played as the team makes off at the end of the film is "Rito a Los Angeles" by Giuseppe De Luca, which features part of the main riff of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". This track is also used in Ocean's Twelve, the first sequel to the caper film Ocean's Eleven, about actually robbing casinos in Vegas.

References

External links

• Official website
• 21 at the Internet Movie Database
• 21 at Rotten Tomatoes
• 21 at Metacritic
• 21 at Box Office Mojo
• 21 at Allmovie
• MIT Alumnus and Busting Vegas Author Describe Experience of Beating the House
• Photos of the filming of 21 near the campus of MIT: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
• Official world wide release dates with links to different national sites