MIT Brains Combines with Blackjack
Can a bunch of brainy MIT kids figure out a way to make mucho cash in Vegas? That's the story line behind the new movie from director Robert Luketic, 21. Based on a true story, 21 takes viewers into the life of Ben Cambell (Jim Sturgess), a Harvard Med School applicant with a geeky math genius streak. Following the advice of one of his college professors, Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey), Ben joins a Blackjack club with a secret formula for winning.
21 is Based on a True Story
21 is based on the book Bringing Down the House, by Ben Mezrich. And like the book, it's true to the tale of the actual MIT students who managed to walk away from Vegas with millions...up to a point. There really was an older "teacher" who led the gang. The club really did recruit the best and brightest kids on campus. And they did engage in endless practice sessions to ensure that they would leave the casinos with lots of cash rather than empty pockets.
MIT Blackjack Did not Have Hollywood Appeal
But the film and reality part ways once the crew arrives in Vegas. While the true MIT students really did use card counting to make millions of dollars at Blackjack, they did not engage in the Hollywood drama, sex, and misfitry that most movie viewers are sure to enjoy. 21, the movie, is filled with budding romance, sob-stories, back-stabbing, and geeks gone wild.
Take, for example, the premise behind Ben's agreeing to join the Blackjack club. In the movie, Ben struggles with the moral dilemma of whether or not to make money in such a seemingly duplicitous fashion. The only thing that drives him to take part in the venture is the fact that he wants to go to Harvard Med School, but he just can't afford the astronomical tuition. His after school minimum wage job really doesn't help much, so Ben decides to take the plunge. Of course, in typical Hollywood fashion, his greed gets the better of him, so that even after he's earned enough at Blackjack to pay for Harvard, he still continues to count cards.
Another instance of Hollywood exaggeration is the romance between Ben and Jill (Kate Bosworth), a fellow team member. It's Jill who entices Ben to join the team with her girl-next door sex appeal, and then it's Jill who Ben pursues as a love interest/ partner in crime for the remainder of the film. In real life there was, of course, no Jill, and there were no Blackjack connected romances on the MIT team.
21's Truth with a Twist
Probably the most gratuitous distortion of the truth is the ending (which won't be given away here!). It includes a plot twist which bears no resemblance to reality, but it does make for an entertaining film with an engaging storyline.
The Last Word on the Movie 21
So how does 21 stack up as far as films go? It's an enjoyable movie with good acting. While Kevin Spacey is not as his most dynamic in the role of nutty plotting professor, he does add a certain level of superior talent to the movie. And Jim Sturgess shows surprising talent in his role, not only during the light and peppy parts of the film, but in the more serious and dramatic parts as well.
As with most movies based on a true story, it's far more entertaining to envision a scenario like this when it has actually happened. Students in the Blackjack club at MIT really did figure out a way to count cards undetected in Las Vegas, and they really did walk away with an enormous sum of cash. So while 21, the movie, may take a bit of artistic license in order to add a bit of entertainment value, the kernels of truth in the film are really what makes the story so amazing.
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