21 (2008 film)


21 is a 2008 American heist drama film directed by Robert Luketic and starring Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Bosworth, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, Aaron Yoo, and Kieu Chinh. 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. Despite its largely mixed reviews and controversy over the film's casting choices, 21 was a box office success, and was the number one film in the United States and Canada during its first and second weekends of release.

Plot

Ben Campbell, a mathematics major at MIT, is accepted into Harvard Medical School but cannot afford the $300,000 tuition. He applies for the prestigious Robinson Scholarship which would cover the entire cost. However, despite having an MCAT score of 44 and high grades, he faces fierce competition, and is told by the director that the scholarship will only go to whichever student dazzles him. Back at MIT, a professor, Micky Rosa challenges Ben with the Monty Hall Problem which he solves successfully. After looking at Ben's 97% score on his latest non-linear equations test, Micky invites Ben to join his blackjack team, which consists of fellow students Choi, Fisher, Jill, and Kianna. Using card counting and covert signalling, they are able to increase their probability of winning while at casinos, leading them to earn substantial profits. Over many weekends, the team is flown to Las Vegas and Ben comes to enjoy his luxurious lifestyle as a so-called big player. The team is impressed by Ben's skill, but Fisher becomes jealous and fights him while drunk, leading Micky to expel him. Meanwhile, the head of security, Cole Williams, has been monitoring the team and begins to turn his attention to Ben.
Ben's devotion to blackjack causes him to neglect his role in an engineering competition, which estranges him from his friends. During the next trip to Las Vegas, he is emotionally distracted and fails to walk away from the table when signaled, causing him to lose his earnings of $200,000. Micky is angered and quits the team, demanding that Ben must repay $200,000. Ben and three of the students decide that they will continue to play blackjack without Micky, but they are caught by Williams, whom Micky tipped off. Williams beats up Ben and warns him not to return.
Ben learns that he is ineligible for graduation because his course taught by an associate of Micky's is marked as incomplete. Furthermore, his winnings are stolen from his dormitory room. Suspecting Micky, Ben confers with the other blackjack students, and they persuade Micky to make a final trip to Las Vegas before the casinos install biometric software. The team puts on disguises and returns to Planet Hollywood, winning $640,000 before they are spotted by Williams. Micky flees with the bag of chips, jumping into a limousine, but realizes it was a setup when he discovers that the chips are fake. It is revealed that Ben and Williams made a deal to lure Micky to Las Vegas so that Williams may capture and beat him, because Williams has past grievances against him. Williams proceeds to hold Micky hostage and subject him to beatings. In exchange, Williams allows Ben to play for one more night in Las Vegas, enjoying immunity from capture. However, as Ben is leaving with his earnings, Williams betrays him and takes the bag of chips at gunpoint. Ben protests, and Williams explains that he needs retirement funds, whereas intelligent people like Ben will always find a way to succeed. However, Ben's long-time friends Miles and Cam also turn out to be quite good at card-counting while working with Choi and Kianna during Micky's capture and as such, the now 6-man team make a lot of money despite Williams's robbery of Ben and Micky's chips. The film ends with Ben recounting the entire tale to the dazzled and dumbfounded scholarship director.

Cast

Production

The filming of 21 began in March 2007. Principal filming of the Las Vegas scenes took place at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, the Red Rock Casino, and the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. Filming also took place at Harvard Medical School, Chinatown, in Cambridge, and the Christian Science Center in Boston, Massachusetts. As Massachusetts Institute of Technology did not allow filming on campus, the MIT school and dorm interiors, the gymnasium, and the alumni reception were all shot at Boston University.

Reception

Critical response

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 36% of 169 critics gave the film a positive review, for an average rating of 5.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "21 could have been a fascinating study had it not supplanted the true story on which it is based with mundane melodrama." Metacritic gave the film an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

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. 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.

Casting controversy

A race-based controversy arose over the decision to make the majority of the characters white Americans, even though the main players in the book Bringing Down the House, upon which the film 21 is based, were mainly Asian-Americans. The lead role was given to London-born Jim Sturgess, who required a dialect coach to speak with an American accent.
Jeff Ma, who was the real-life inspiration for the character Ben Campbell and served as a consultant on the film, was attacked as 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." Ma said that the controversy was "overblown" and that the important aspect is that a talented actor would portray him. Ma, who is Chinese American, told USA Today, "I would have been a lot more insulted if they had chosen someone who was Japanese or Korean, just to have an Asian playing me."
Nick Rogers of The Enterprise wrote, "The real-life students mostly were Asian-Americans, but 21 its cast and disappointingly lumps its only Asian-American actors into one-note designations as the team's kleptomaniac and a slot-playing 'loser.'"
The Media Action Network for Asian Americans reported on their web site: "After the 'white-washing' issue was raised on Entertainment Weeklys web site, producer Dana Brunetti wrote: "Believe me, I would have LOVED to cast Asians in the lead roles, but the truth is, we didn't have access to any bankable Asian-American actors that we wanted."

Home media

21 was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1 on July 21, 2008.

Reaction from casinos

In pre-production, 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 are owned by MGM Resorts International and are no longer related to MGM Studios. In reality, as another DVD featurette reveals, the casinos saw the film as an attention-getter; people who saw it would be encouraged to go to Vegas and play: some just for fun and some attempting to count cards but failing to learn or memorize the entire strategy or making too many mistakes. The film withheld critical strategy details, and most beginning card counters underestimate the number and value of the mistakes they make.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released at the same time as the film.
  1. The Rolling Stones—"You Can't Always Get What You Want"
  2. MGMT—"Time to Pretend"
  3. LCD Soundsystem—"Big Ideas"
  4. D. Sardy featuring Liela Moss—"Giant"
  5. Amon Tobin—"Always"
  6. Peter Bjorn and John—"Young Folks"
  7. Shook One —"Soul Position"
  8. Get Shakes—"Sister Self Doubt"
  9. The Aliens—"I Am The Unknown"
  10. Rihanna—"Shut Up and Drive"
  11. Knivez Out—"Alright"
  12. Domino—"Tropical Moonlight"
  13. Unkle—"Hold My Hand"
  14. Mark Ronson featuring Kasabian—"L.S.F. "
  15. Broadcast—"Tender Buttons"
;Other tracks