21 (2008) film wallpapers :
21 (2008) Film Rating and Review :
Rating :
Acting – 6/10
Direction – 6/10
Screenplay – 5/10
Music – 5/10
Technique – 5/10
Review :
Card sharps not so sharp
What if Peter Parker had never been bitten by a spider? Would he have just been another science nerd who never got anywhere? Would he have found a way to be super anyway? Or would he have been the geek who started counting, got rich, and got lucky, just like Ben Campbell, the very human hero of 21?
Ben and Peter, the Amazing Spider-Man’s almost amazing human alter-ego, have a lot in common. They are both the braniest guys in class who still may not manage to make it because, in the big bad world, genius is only a useful attribute if you’re rich. They have both been touched by the death of a loved one. And they both learn — the hard way — that their destiny lies in their choices.
But unlike Spidey, who soars by virtue of an unreal twist of fate, Ben is left to live by his wits. And this is relevant because 21 is inspired by real events. There was a group of students, known as the MIT Blackjack Team, who took Las Vegas by storm in the 1990s, using math and teamwork to relieve the casinos of their big bucks.
When we meet the fictional Ben, he is rapidly getting disillusioned with life. He has all but completed college and has been accepted at Harvard medical school, a lifelong dream. His family doesn’t have the $300,000 it costs, so he is pinning all his hopes on a scholarship. But when he is told that the award will only go to the most “dazzling” of students, Ben begins to lose heart.
Then he finds a way of beating the system. He is approached by Micky Rosa, one of his professors, who has assembled and trained a crack team to work the blackjack (also known as 21) tables at Vegas on weekends by counting cards and signalling — a complex system based on simple numbers.
Greed triumphs over better sense and Ben signs up. He tells himself and his professor that he doesn’t want to make millions, he only wants to make the $300,000 it will take to get him through Harvard, and then he will quit.
Isn’t that what they all say? The “dazzle” of Vegas, with its money, adrenaline, fancy hotels and nightclubs (throw in a The Devil Wears Prada-like montage of blinding lights and awestruck faces), gradually sucks Ben away from his geeky best friends of old, the science project he has been working on for a year and his classes. The lure is just too powerful for Ben, who begins to think that he might just have it all.
If only he knew when to say when. This is always the risk when dealing with highly addictive substances. Whether or not the smooth-talking Micky had his team convinced that they weren’t gambling, they were counting, emotion was sure to get the better of them sooner or later.
Why 21 could have worked as a story is because it seems almost wrong that smart guys are not allowed to use their natural talent to beat the dealer. After all, they are only using skills that they were born with. That, and a little help from their friends.
Yet, the film doesn’t work. Not really. Watch this film if you have nothing better to do over the weekend. Or wait for the DVD. Or better yet, watch Ocean’s eleven again.
The story of card sharps who try to use their brain power to challenge that golden rule of every casino, everywhere, the house always wins, is not new. So what it needed was character to carry it. And some edge. 21 has neither.
We don’t really see Ben’s slide into deep despair. We just sort of see him implode on one bad night. We don’t see Micky’s whole plan go up in smoke: we see it unravel rather predictably, without ever catching us off guard.
If the story never hits highs or lows, neither do the actors. Kevin Spacey should be the reason you go to watch this film, but he gives his fans almost nothing to take home. And he is the producer, too, so he doubly disappoints.
The film finally rides on Jim Sturgess, who has far too few good moments, though there are some. And the chemistry between Jim and Kate Bosworth, a fellow card counter and his love interest, is missing altogether.
It might be the technicals that are 21’s biggest letdown. Hollywood has seen far less interesting films work much better on the strength of camera and editing, which are both flat and unimaginative here.
Like Ben, 21 never “dazzles”, it never “jumps off the page”. It is only just watchable, when it could have been much more.
N.B. Watch 21 with no expectations from script or Spacey.
Acting – 6/10
Direction – 6/10
Screenplay – 5/10
Music – 5/10
Technique – 5/10
Review :
Card sharps not so sharp
What if Peter Parker had never been bitten by a spider? Would he have just been another science nerd who never got anywhere? Would he have found a way to be super anyway? Or would he have been the geek who started counting, got rich, and got lucky, just like Ben Campbell, the very human hero of 21?
Ben and Peter, the Amazing Spider-Man’s almost amazing human alter-ego, have a lot in common. They are both the braniest guys in class who still may not manage to make it because, in the big bad world, genius is only a useful attribute if you’re rich. They have both been touched by the death of a loved one. And they both learn — the hard way — that their destiny lies in their choices.
But unlike Spidey, who soars by virtue of an unreal twist of fate, Ben is left to live by his wits. And this is relevant because 21 is inspired by real events. There was a group of students, known as the MIT Blackjack Team, who took Las Vegas by storm in the 1990s, using math and teamwork to relieve the casinos of their big bucks.
When we meet the fictional Ben, he is rapidly getting disillusioned with life. He has all but completed college and has been accepted at Harvard medical school, a lifelong dream. His family doesn’t have the $300,000 it costs, so he is pinning all his hopes on a scholarship. But when he is told that the award will only go to the most “dazzling” of students, Ben begins to lose heart.
Then he finds a way of beating the system. He is approached by Micky Rosa, one of his professors, who has assembled and trained a crack team to work the blackjack (also known as 21) tables at Vegas on weekends by counting cards and signalling — a complex system based on simple numbers.
Greed triumphs over better sense and Ben signs up. He tells himself and his professor that he doesn’t want to make millions, he only wants to make the $300,000 it will take to get him through Harvard, and then he will quit.
Isn’t that what they all say? The “dazzle” of Vegas, with its money, adrenaline, fancy hotels and nightclubs (throw in a The Devil Wears Prada-like montage of blinding lights and awestruck faces), gradually sucks Ben away from his geeky best friends of old, the science project he has been working on for a year and his classes. The lure is just too powerful for Ben, who begins to think that he might just have it all.
If only he knew when to say when. This is always the risk when dealing with highly addictive substances. Whether or not the smooth-talking Micky had his team convinced that they weren’t gambling, they were counting, emotion was sure to get the better of them sooner or later.
Why 21 could have worked as a story is because it seems almost wrong that smart guys are not allowed to use their natural talent to beat the dealer. After all, they are only using skills that they were born with. That, and a little help from their friends.
Yet, the film doesn’t work. Not really. Watch this film if you have nothing better to do over the weekend. Or wait for the DVD. Or better yet, watch Ocean’s eleven again.
The story of card sharps who try to use their brain power to challenge that golden rule of every casino, everywhere, the house always wins, is not new. So what it needed was character to carry it. And some edge. 21 has neither.
We don’t really see Ben’s slide into deep despair. We just sort of see him implode on one bad night. We don’t see Micky’s whole plan go up in smoke: we see it unravel rather predictably, without ever catching us off guard.
If the story never hits highs or lows, neither do the actors. Kevin Spacey should be the reason you go to watch this film, but he gives his fans almost nothing to take home. And he is the producer, too, so he doubly disappoints.
The film finally rides on Jim Sturgess, who has far too few good moments, though there are some. And the chemistry between Jim and Kate Bosworth, a fellow card counter and his love interest, is missing altogether.
It might be the technicals that are 21’s biggest letdown. Hollywood has seen far less interesting films work much better on the strength of camera and editing, which are both flat and unimaginative here.
Like Ben, 21 never “dazzles”, it never “jumps off the page”. It is only just watchable, when it could have been much more.
N.B. Watch 21 with no expectations from script or Spacey.
No comments:
Post a Comment