I had a great time at 21. The plot was nice, the undercurrents of college life were funny, and you can even find a love story in it. Using a scholarship essay made my day as I usually write about student loans, scholarships, and grants, the icing on the cake.
The basics: who and what
21 stars Jim Sturgess as MIT student Ben Campbell, a math genius who plans to go to Harvard Medical School. The film takes place in his final year at MIT. He has all A’s and works at a men’s clothing store for $8 an hour. I don’t know why a math whiz wants to be a doctor, except that doctors make good money, and he knows it.
Ben applies for the prestigious Robinson Scholarship, which will pay all of his expenses to Harvard, a total of approximately $300,000. Serious cash. While discussing his grades with a scholarship representative, Ben learns what he’s up against. The scholarship went to a one-legged immigrant last year. He worries that he doesn’t have what it takes and starts looking for other ways to make money.
At this point, we meet Kevin Spacey as the slick professor Micky Rosa and Kate Bosworth as the likable MIT student and blackjack watcher Jill Taylor. With the help of other members of the team, they recruit Ben and promise him a lot of money.
Count cards instead of a scholarship
Ben learns the simple art of counting cards and the team rules. The movie actually teaches card counting pretty well, not that I bet. The truth is that you have to keep track of shuffles, use multiple spotters counting multiple tables to find an attractive deck, etc. It can take months before you really do well at this, and the casinos watch it in real life. It’s not the best way to earn money for college, but I’m sure it’s appealing to some people.
I won’t spoil the story for you, check it out, you might like it. 21 entertained me, which is all I ask of a good movie. The varsity card counting team lives it up while they’re in Vegas. Ben and Jill find time to have a relationship. Aaah, not so sweet…
21 is based on Ben Mezrich’s Bringing Down The House about an MIT blackjack team in 1993, but the film is modernized. I saw the abridged version on Discovery Channel (I think) about 4 years ago. They made huge amounts of money, but probably not as much as in the movie. And they shut them down by winning too much at too many casinos.
Card counting, to my knowledge, is not illegal, it’s just against casino rules. The real life team had to go out of business because all the casinos knew about them, and they played in many casinos, not just one.
Remember, this is a movie. You’ll find some nice twists and some non-linear storytelling. I don’t recommend earning money for college this way, but the scholarship essay adds up to the bottom line. Go see it.