21

21 (PG-13) When six bright, ambitious M.I.T. students need some extra cash, their math professor Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey) is right there to help. A Blackjack wiz, as well as an academic, he institutes a clandestine, crash course in casino 101. For a long, lucky streak it’s the best of both worlds, classes during the week and lavish gambling junkets to Las Vegas on weekends. Sure, sometimes the studies have to go to the back burner, but when the takes is well on the way to seven digits, who cares?

The newest recruit to Professor Rosa’s gang of savvy gamblers is young Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), an aspiring medical student. Sucked into the vortex of glamour, money and prestige, Ben, a quick study, soon is at the top of the card counting game and his stash of cash is steadily growing. But, remember, it’s a house of cards.

Based on a true story of an escapade that made all the papers a few years ago, the film never hesitates adding an embellished Hollywood touch to reality. Well-cast and cleverly filmed by director Robert Luketic, the mood is clearly high stakes adventure. The dangerous side of the scheme is personified by the old-school casino security expert, Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne), who brutally enforces the casino’s rule against card counting. 

The troupe of students turned serious casino players is a transition that is just short of believable. Perhaps the actual participants were a tad less glamorous and the action not quite as intriguing, but it makes a good story. It remains to be seen if a movie about Blackjack, can capture the attention of a nation so focused on poker. It’s a gamble.

Mary K. Morgan is a member of the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association. View more reviews at St. Louis Film Reviews