21 (2008)

Who's in It: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne
The Basics: The answer to the question, "When will someone get the big idea to remake Ocean's Eleven, but with cards like in Lucky You, but also with really young hot people, but also really lame and boring?" The plot: MIT kids, who should all really be modeling somewhere, learn how to beat Vegas at its own game, thanks to a wily old professor/card shark (Spacey).

What's the Deal? When I'm watching a movie about a heist or a big scam of some kind, my favorite part is knowing the mechanics of that crime. I want to see it all ticking like clockwork. And then I want my criminals to be charming and funny so I can get with their misdeeds in good conscience. So this, of course, goes out of its way to be not particularly smart, even though it's about really smart people, and to sacrifice caper for interpersonal relationships. "Ooh, my girlfriend thinks I'm consumed with ambition. Oh, my moral dilemmas." Yawn.

Who's Good: Spacey. Just like in Fred Claus and every other not-great film he tries to save, Spacey is one of the movies' best mean jerks. So even though this film is beneath his abilities (and yet he's also the executive producer, so he shares part of the blame all the same), he's fun to watch be unscrupulous.

What's Extra Dull: People playing cards. It seems that barely anyone can make this activity fun to look at. The latest version of Casino Royale was pretty cool. Even The Sting made it seem like kind of a blast. But here it's like watching mold grow on cheese.

Like Better Luck Tomorrow, But White: In real life (because this is loooooooooosely based on a real story), all the kids were Asian. But Hollywood has this affirmative-action policy for white people, see, just to give them a sorely needed leg up, and so this version is just more, you know, balanced.


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