21 (2008)

Director:

Robert Luketic

Writers (WGA):

Peter Steinfeld (screenplay) and
Allan Loeb (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 March 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Inspired by the true story of five students who changed the game forever.

Plot:

"21" is the fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings.

Plot Keywords:

Casino | Student | Professor | Harvard | Card Counting

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Jim Sturgess	...	Ben
Kevin Spacey	...	Micky Rosa
Kate Bosworth	...	Jill
Aaron Yoo	...	Choi
Liza Lapira	...	Kianna
Jacob Pitts	...	Fisher
Laurence Fishburne	...	Cole Williams
Jack McGee	...	Terry
Josh Gad	...	Miles
Sam Golzari	...	Cam
Helen Carey	...	Ellen Campbell
Jack Gilpin	...	Bob Phillips
Donna Lows	...	Planet Hollywood Dealer
Butch Williams	...	Planet Hollywood Dealer
Ben Campbell	...	Planet Hollywood Dealer Jeff (as Jeffrey Ma)

Also Known As:

21 - The Movie (USA) (promotional title)
Untitled Blackjack Picture (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence, and sexual content including partial nudity.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-13 | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15 | Ireland:12A | Sweden:11 | UK:12A | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Canada:G (Québec) | New Zealand:M | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43290) | Germany:12 | Iceland:12 | South Africa:13V | Singapore:PG | Poland:15 | Brazil:14 | Italy:T | Greece:K-13 | Argentina:13 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Hong Kong:IIB | Taiwan:PG-12 | Malaysia:U | Norway:11 (theatrical rating)

Filming Locations:

Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

Cameo: [Gustaf Skarsgård]Long-haired man working for Cole Williams. He can be seen chasing Ben in the final run out of the casino.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: "In the prize behind three doors game, the strategy of switching doors actually gives your overall odds to win of 50%, not 66%. Say the doors are A, B and C and the prize was behind B. There are four outcomes using the strategy: 1.You choose door A. Door C opens and you switch to door B, and win 2.You choose door C. Door A opens and you switch to door B, and win 3.You choose door B. Door A opens and you switch to door C, and lose 4.You choose door B. Door C opens and you switch to door A, and lose There are two scenarios that you win and two in which you lose. The probability of winning is 2/4 or 50%. Note that #4 is actually different than #3 and is disregarded by the movie, giving the 66% odds. Similar scenarios work if the prize was behind door A or C." This theory is actually incorrect. This scenario is referred to as the "Monty Hall Problem" and it's solution is a counterintuitive, making the problem a veridical paradox. Many explanations exist, but the easiest is this. If I initially chose door A for the car, I have a 1/3 chance of winning the car. The game show host, knowing the location of the car will open a door with a goat. Once a "goat door" is open, my original probability of 1/3 still exists, as I chose when 3 choices were present. Since the chance of the car being behind the opened "goat door" is zero, the remaining door has a 2/3 chance of having the car as the total probability of choices must equal 1, or 3/3. Therefore, you double your odds of getting the car by switching you choice.

Quotes:

Jill Taylor: [in Foxx Strip Club] So do you want a private dance?
Ben Campbell: How much?
Jill Taylor: 20 a song, 30 song minimum.
Ben Campbell: I don't know. Sounds expensive.
[they kiss]

Movie Connections:

References Heavy Metal (1981)

Soundtrack:

Slipping Away (Axwell Vocal Mix)

much better than you would expect!!

I was lucky enough to see this film for free at a special screening in greater London as part of a market research by the film industry. even though it was free i would have paid good money to see that film. but I was presently surprised about how good the film was and everyone seemed to agree that the film was really good. I thought it made the card playing parts actually riveting even though i am not a card player myself. i thought the acting performances were all good especially that of Kevin Spacey's. In terms of the story. In many ways it reminded me of all the good things that was in the BBC TV show hustle. But in a much more real way. On the down side, you may see the ending coming and there is a romance part of the film that feels unnecessary. However it is a very slick film that gets away with it. I would say that it clearly the best film in this genre of film. I enjoyed it more than films such as Confidence and the Oceans 11 type films. I would highly recommend it to anybody when it eventually comes out in April!! I would have thought that they would cut down and re-edit it a bit on the basis that it was quite long. however it kept my attention for the whole film and that is not something that is also done during these sorts of films