Let's get one thing straight: Cliches and stereotypes abound in this film. The two writers, Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb, should be ashamed of themselves. They have created a vapid, mediocre script, though they did not have to create any novel ideas of their own -- the film is adapted from a non-fiction book by Ben Mezrich. "Bringing Down the House" (2003), chronicled a group of MIT students-turned"card-counters and their turbulent "weekend lives" in Las Vegas.
If there is one possible saving grace to a weak script, it is acting performances, which can make or break a film. "21" was something of a showcase for Sturgess' sublime acting. After watching him gracefully morph his character from Ben, the studious, introverted stereotype, to Ben, the confident cardshark, I am convinced that Sturgess is one of the most promising new actors to hit mainstream movies.The ever-reliable Kevin Spacey only fortified Sturgess' performance, playing the professor who teaches by day and takes his best students to the blackjack tables by night.
The strength of the acting may very well be the backbone of the film, but it is the cinematography that provides the flesh. When the film takes us into the world of the gambler there is a sudden abundance of vibrant, beautifully composed shots. In one still, a man squats in a grimy back alley in Chinatown, smoking, exhaling gray plumes by the light over the door to his left. These cinematic shots could double as photography.
The pesky writing offers cliche after cliche, but thankfully the brilliant cinematography and acting overcome, and, as it is, "21" is still worth a gamble. The odds are you'll enjoy it more than you might have thought.
