Spring Break
Audiences Should Hit On '21'
Movie Review
Sarah Kopman-Fried
Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Focus
Paying for school can be a daunting task. No one knows this better than Ben Campbell, the unlikely hero in Robert Luketic's hit film "21," which opened last weekend.
Campbell, played by Jim Sturgess, is the smartest student at MIT, with perfect grades and great relationships with his professors. His weekends are spent hanging out with his unabashedly nerdy friends and helping to program a robot for an upcoming science competition. As a result, his acceptance to Harvard Medical School comes as no surprise, but the $300,000 tuition bill certainly does. The son of a working-class mother, Campbell weighs his options, calculating that it would take him several decades working at his current minimum-wage job in a suit store to earn enough to pay for Harvard, before deciding that he has to do something drastic.
Opportunity knocks in the form of the mysterious Professor Rosa, played by Kevin Spacey, who invites Campbell to be a part of a secret Blackjack team that counts cards in Las Vegas on the weekends. Quickly seduced by big winnings and "the ability to be anyone you want in Vegas," Campbell quickly finds himself playing for a lot more than just medical school.
Although the plot of "21," with its many power struggles and romantic overtones, may seem slightly predictable at times, it is packed with more than enough excitement to be well worth the price of admission. The acting by Sturgess is near brilliant as he flawlessly transforms from a shy, awkward nerd to an arrogant and impulsive leader. The romantic tension between Sturgess and Kate Bosworth, the film's female protagonist, is believable, although it's the relationship between Sturgess and Spacey that really makes the movie. The two actors feed off each other's energy, ultimately leading to a huge confrontation that totally absorbs the viewer's attention.
In addition, "21" is also packed with witty one-liners and a few comical scenes to lighten the mood. The film's costume design is also fantastic, perfectly capturing the glitter of the casinos as the main characters play fast and loose with their six-digit winnings. In one scene, the characters are shown going through heaps of designer clothing in an expensive Las Vegas boutique - highly believable considering they are teenagers who have just won more than a million dollars, cumulatively. All in all though, it is the movie's "Ocean's 11"-esque ending that really makes it worth seeing and should keep audiences guessing.
On another level though, the film also acts as a slightly far-fetched, but still important social commentary on the price of higher education in America today. As a student, the struggle Campbell faces to pay for school is easy to relate to as tuition prices continue to rise. Choosing between putting himself hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt or taking money from his financially-struggling mother, its no wonder audiences find themselves rooting for Campbell as he bets big in this surefire blockbuster.
Contact Sarah Kopman-Fried at
Sarah.Kopman-Fried@UConn.edu.
Campbell, played by Jim Sturgess, is the smartest student at MIT, with perfect grades and great relationships with his professors. His weekends are spent hanging out with his unabashedly nerdy friends and helping to program a robot for an upcoming science competition. As a result, his acceptance to Harvard Medical School comes as no surprise, but the $300,000 tuition bill certainly does. The son of a working-class mother, Campbell weighs his options, calculating that it would take him several decades working at his current minimum-wage job in a suit store to earn enough to pay for Harvard, before deciding that he has to do something drastic.
Opportunity knocks in the form of the mysterious Professor Rosa, played by Kevin Spacey, who invites Campbell to be a part of a secret Blackjack team that counts cards in Las Vegas on the weekends. Quickly seduced by big winnings and "the ability to be anyone you want in Vegas," Campbell quickly finds himself playing for a lot more than just medical school.
Although the plot of "21," with its many power struggles and romantic overtones, may seem slightly predictable at times, it is packed with more than enough excitement to be well worth the price of admission. The acting by Sturgess is near brilliant as he flawlessly transforms from a shy, awkward nerd to an arrogant and impulsive leader. The romantic tension between Sturgess and Kate Bosworth, the film's female protagonist, is believable, although it's the relationship between Sturgess and Spacey that really makes the movie. The two actors feed off each other's energy, ultimately leading to a huge confrontation that totally absorbs the viewer's attention.
In addition, "21" is also packed with witty one-liners and a few comical scenes to lighten the mood. The film's costume design is also fantastic, perfectly capturing the glitter of the casinos as the main characters play fast and loose with their six-digit winnings. In one scene, the characters are shown going through heaps of designer clothing in an expensive Las Vegas boutique - highly believable considering they are teenagers who have just won more than a million dollars, cumulatively. All in all though, it is the movie's "Ocean's 11"-esque ending that really makes it worth seeing and should keep audiences guessing.
On another level though, the film also acts as a slightly far-fetched, but still important social commentary on the price of higher education in America today. As a student, the struggle Campbell faces to pay for school is easy to relate to as tuition prices continue to rise. Choosing between putting himself hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt or taking money from his financially-struggling mother, its no wonder audiences find themselves rooting for Campbell as he bets big in this surefire blockbuster.
Contact Sarah Kopman-Fried at
Sarah.Kopman-Fried@UConn.edu.
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