Starring Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess
Directed by Robert Luketic

Inspired by five students who took on Vegas, one wonders how much of this ‘true story’ was left on the cutting room floor.

Suffice to say that if this whimsy from Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) is related to reality, Vegas is run by the American Council of the Blind.

Ben is a financially impoverished student. Professor Micky Rosa notes his memory for maths and enlists him into The Team, a group trained to beat blackjack tables in Vegas. 21’s tension point rests with the illegal activity of Rosa’s mod squad.

Will they or won’t they be caught by Laurence Fishburne, head of security who roughly introduces wayward gamblers to the line? The problem is two-fold.

Firstly, Luketic fails to clarify the complex process by which The Team cheats, and secondly, to explain why it’s illegal in the first place. Critical to engagement, these absences reduce the story to a glitzy, noisy hybrid of Casino and Oceans 21, as it were.

Pitched young with an attractive cast – Sturgess (Across the Universe) is a pleasing foil for the reliable Spacey – 21 is a good match for an undemanding beer and pizza audience.

Others may find stodgy pacing, laboured development, murky lighting and an intrusive score plays a dud hand.

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