Watch 21 For Free

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Really Surprised!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

If not the best, one of the best movies in inspiring category. Must watch if you are looking for such type. I watched it several times. The theme of this movie does not normally match to every one lifestyle. That's why some people may not like it. But if you are somehow a looser and you failed because u were forced to go through pretty unusual situation, then this movie will "dazzle" you.

Reviewed November 2011Winner winner chicken dinner, a lot of cheese dripping all over. Featuring good looking leads, a real big mentor and a simple script that may not go too wrong. The director messed everything up spectacularly. Trying to pull in every known stereotype attached to the game and genre, way too long in duration and he may better end up being known as the director who brought the worst in Spacey. Features a typical brilliant boy (Jim Sturgess), with an ordinary life and in need of money/scholarship to get into Harvard Medical school. He realizes his scholarship is in jeopardy and at the same time gets noticed by a shrewd professor (Kevin Spacey) who offers him a spot in his team that specializes in counting cards to beat the dealer in Blackjack. He accepts the offer for two reasons. 1) As a means to an end. 2) His long time crush Jill (Kate Bosworth) is in the team. Finally he ends up getting sucked by the glitz, glamour and easy money of Las Vegas. How he gets his act together comprises the rest of the story. Extremely cheesy with enormous number of redundant scenes featuring characters that are mere caricatures. Cinematography is good, background score is peppy, editing is slick and the lead character is believable. Kevin Spacey has given the worst performance I have seen of him and was a total letdown. They could've added a little more fun while presenting the Blackjack games than just the calculations in the minds of the geniuses that we should imagine. I was a bit disconnected with that.I could not think of any recommendation like 'Watch it only if ...'.. nothing comes to mind. Just drop it. It's easy and more fun.

when I saw the film, I thought that it was just another average caucasian film, it has so many white characters in it which is so typical for most Hollywood films. the last memorable mostly Asian film that i saw was : Joy Luck Club, which was so long ago. often times, people say that Hollywood doesn't have many films that are suitable for Asian American actors, because most roles are for white people. there are hardly any Asian children in the USA that have dreams of becoming big actors, because they never see any famous big Asian actors as their role models. when i saw the film, i only knew that it was based on "a true story". i thought that it was some smart white students from mit who did it. I just found out that this film was actually based on some real Asian students from MIT. it could be a good positive film to represent Asian people in the USA. i am shocked that i was fooled by this so-called "true story" which wasn't true at all. this film could be one of the few rare films that actually have plenty of roles for Asian American actors. the producers and director chose to discriminate against Asian American actors, did the wrong thing by hiring white actors. no matter how they explain it, what they did is totally racist. and the protagonist wasn't even a US citizen, he is a foreigner. why do Hollywood hire foreigners who have to fake US accent when there are plenty of Asian American actors who speak perfect English.black people boycotted 2016 Oscar because it has no black nominations. some Asian American actors might have won an Oscar if they were given the chance to play a role in this film.

21 (2008): Dir: Robert Luketic / Cast: Jim Sturges, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoo: True story starring Jim Sturges who hopes to get into Harvard Medical School. He is recruited by a professor to join other students in Blackjack. He learns the basics of counting cards, which casinos take a dislike to when they clean up during several visits to Vegas. Fine setup becomes predictable with questionable attitude towards the consequences or just merely the payoff. Directed by Robert Luketic who previously made Win a Date With Tad Hamilton and Monster-in-Law. This marks quite a departure from his usual romantic comedies but certainly he proves that he can indeed scout other genres. However, his romantic comedies seem to elevate beyond what this ambitious premise ultimately reduces to. Sturges does a fine job as someone caught up in wrong and going full throttle without care or consequence. Kate Bosworth is an object of romance thus doing little more than being Sturges's girlfriend. Kevin Spacey plays the professor in what is a limited role but not without consequence. Laurence Fishburne plays the casino head security with ties to the Spacey character. He will do the standard pursuit but not without a great payoff. Very bland and certainly not as good as it should have been but it demonstrate how such addictions can lead to a downfall. Score: 4 ½ / 10