21 (Single-Disc Edition) | 
 enlarge | Actors: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Jack Gilpin, Jack Mcgee, Kevin Spacey
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $28.96
Buy Used: $7.05
You Save: $21.91 (76%)
New (56) Collectible (1) from $7.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 83
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 123
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: 26718
UPC: 043396267183
EAN: 0043396267183
ASIN: B0018CWW5K
Theatrical Release Date: March 28, 2008
Release Date: July 22, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Inspired by the true story of MIT students who mastered the art of card counting and took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. Looking for a way to pay for tuition Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) finds himself quietly recruited by MIT's most gifted students in a daring plot to break Vegas. With the help of a brilliant statistics professor (Kevin Spacey) and armed with fake IDs intelligence and a complicated system of counting cards Ben and his friends succeed in breaking the impenetrable casinos. Now his challenge is keeping the numbers straight and staying one step ahead of the casinos before it all spirals out of control.System Requirements:Running Time: 123 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/BUDDIES Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396267183 Manufacturer No: 26718
Amazon.com
An unconvincing exercise in moral complexity, 21 is based on Ben Mezrich's book Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) plays brilliant, blue-collar scholar Ben Campbell, whose doubts that he'll win a scholarship to Harvard Medical School compel him to join a secret, M.I.T. gang of math whiz kids. Under the silky but chilling command of a math professor (Kevin Spacey), Jim and the others master card counting, i.e., the statistical analysis of cards dealt in blackjack games. The team lives a humdrum existence during the week, but on weekends in Sin City, the students are rolling in cash, going to exclusive clubs, and feeling on top of the world. (Ben even gets the girl: a comely, fellow counter played by Kate Bosworth.) Despite all that success, Ben feels ethically compromised, and indeed director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde), in the old tradition of American movies, plays it both ways where fun vices are concerned. On the one hand, it feels so good; on the other, ahem, we know it's wrong. That studied ambivalence proves wearing after a while, making the most interesting character in the film a casino watchdog played by Laurence Fishburne. A master at reading the emotions of gamblers beating the house with a scam, he's admirable for being good at his job, but repellent for wrecking the faces of counters in casino dungeons. He's all about moral complexity in the tradition of anti-heroes, and a truly provocative element in an otherwise superficial movie. --Tom Keogh
Beyond 21 
On Blu-ray | 
Read the book 21 was based on | 
UMD for PSP | Stills from 21 (click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 50 more reviews...
 Great Vegas Movie! August 20, 2008
I just came back from visiting Las Vegas for the first time and that inspired me to rent this movie. I am very impressed with 21.
The actors are great. Kevin Spacey is a great actor and he proves it again in this movie. The rest of the cast is great too.
The Blu-Ray looks great on a 1080p HDTV. Perhaps I just had Vegas fever from just being there but the scenes of the Strip and of the hotels make me feel like i'm right back in Vegas.
This is a great movie for a Blackjack fan, a Vegas fan, or just a fan of great movies. Highly recommended!
21 - a fun Ride while it lasted August 19, 2008
Jim Sturgess plays Ben, a working-class science nerd . He needs to find tuition for Harvard. Along comes his favorite math professor, Kevin Spacey, with an offer of extra credit that pays off in hard cash. The clincher is an invitation from the campus golden girl,Kate Bosworth, to join the team.
Ben ignores the obvious foreshadowing and joins Team Vegas, a gang of weekend card sharks with seductive double lives. At least until he loses his mentor's money and Spacey turns his charm into a threat.
Without giving away too much, let me just say, if you enjoy the rush of the fast life, and you also enjoyed the book "Bringing Down the House", give this movie a go.
 21 reasons TO SKIP THIS FILM ! August 19, 2008
21. The soundtrack is a cacophony of bad music including rap, some folk and modern rock. Soundtrack diversity in film is great when it some thought and flow is considered such as the album to Pulp Fiction or Smokin Aces, but this is more like a random pick of blare.
20. Not enough Kevin Spacey, he's on the front of the poster and the DVD cover but he's hardly anywhere in the film, the few appearances he makes could've been shot in a single day.
19. Laurence Fishburne is so chubby he's unrecognizable he could audition for Chef I don't know if he pounded up for this film but this isn't the Morpheus you're used to.
18. Cute Kate Bosworth, but not enough of her and NO I DON'T MEAN NUDITY, I mean just not enough of her in the film.
17. Skip the main character Ashton Kutcher look alike and just get the real Ashton instead, this guy tries too hard to be Ashton and the only thing more annoying than Ashton Kutcher is an actor imitating Ashton Kutcher !!!
16. There isn't even a decent montage, "...we're gonna need a montage, even Rocky had a montage.." whelp, not this film.
15. Not enough technical details for the audience nerds, no emphasis on the real technique of the card counting or the surveillance of the casinos.
14. The characters have about as much depth as pee on a flat rock, there is more time spent developing the strippers than the main cast.
13. Not enough emphasis on Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne), we can tell he's a struggling business and expert at spotting cheats but the audience thirsts for more backstory -does he have a prison record, ex cop, who knows?
12. The shots of Boston and Harvard are better than any of the film of Vegas, there was no effort to show anything about the luster of Las Vegas or even the airport.
11. You gotta have night-vision goggles to watch this film, the whole thing is shot in strip bars, dark dorms and fading escalators.
10. There isn't any morale lesson or struggle in this film despite the fact the poster lures the viewer into believing there is one.
9. The rise and fall of the character is pitiful when you watch the devoted nerd main character dump his loyal friends for the new popular card counting kids then comes crawling back when he's dumped by them and their unwinding scheme.
Reasons #8 - 1, If you still need a reason to skip this film then take a deck of cards with you whether it is in from of the DVD or DVR and play a card game with this junk film as background noise !
 Loved it! August 18, 2008
Fun and Entertaining, really enjoyed this movie, even more so because it's based on a true story. I'm really puzzled as to why this wasn't more of a box office success. A hidden gem, highly recommended.
cool heist film August 14, 2008
i love any movie where people find a way to obtain large amounts of money and '21' is no expectation. the cast is fun, the film is visually interesting and the dvd release is decent. if you like Vegas themed movies you would love this. its harmless and enjoyable. check it out.
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