21 can be the other name of "Blackjack" - a card game bringing either volcanic fortune or seismic loss in the Las Vegas casinos; a game that is not simply a gambling, but a tool for the talented ones who deserve to be initiated into the art of "card counting".
But 21 can also stand for the exciting age of 21 - the stage of life marked with maturity, awareness of the social reality and personal responsibility, and at the same time with the optimism and tireless determination to make everything possible, to fulfill the childhood dreams, to never give up.
In the movie "21", the protagonist Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) have them both.
He is a 21-years old student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Having perfect credentials, Ben has been admitted to the Harvard Medical School, but the necessary three hundred thousand dollars for tuition are not affordable for him and his family. The chance to be selected for the generous Robinson scholarship which would solve his financial needs is very limited, because it is hard to be dazzling within the highly qualified pool of applicants.
A unique opportunity opens to Ben when the unorthodox professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) discovers the brilliance of his mathematical mind, especially when it comes to calculating probabilities. Although not very willing at the beginning, Ben eventually joins a small secret team of Blackjack players at the MIT under the guidance of Professor Rosa. His goal is to save the three hundred thousand dollars required for the Harvard Medical School tuition, and quit playing. The team travels on weekends to Las Vegas and Ben becomes a glamorous winner, experiencing at the same time the temptations and pleasures of the Sin City. He leads the double life of a regular MIT student, living on campus, sharing his room with friends and preparing for a local 2.09 science competition, and at the same time he is the magnificent player, possessing thousands of dollars, keeping each one of his lives secret from the other.
There are success and loss in Ben's story, love and deception, ambition and despair.
Besides Jim Sturgess and Kevin Spacey, the movie also stars Keith Bosworth (Jill Taylor), Aaron Yoo (Choi), Liza Lapira (Kianna), and Jacob Pitts (Jimmy Fisher). The director of the film is Robert Luketic.
The plot is fact-based in the 1980s; there really was a team of Blackjack MIT players winning in the Las Vegas casinos. But the movie doesn't feel "historical". Even if it is to a great extent predictable and not an award winner from major festivals, it is a joy to watch with the freshness of the emotions, with the never fading charm of college life, and with the beauty of just being young.