Saw a great movie last night. . . called 21. Don’t worry, I didn’t pay for it. Like all movie critics, I saw it for free. (I snuck in after watching The Bank Job.)
21 is about some glamorous nerds from MIT (nerd college) who count cards in Las Vegas. They play this card game called
“21 Blackjack Gambling.” They count all the cards in the game(?) and then when the dealer has dealt all twenty-one cards, they yell “Blackjack!!!” and get all the money(?). I think that’s how it works.
Kevin Spacey stars as the professor who runs the scam. He shows incredible range playing a smarmy, condescending creep. Never seen that side of Mr. Spacey before!
Mandatory youtube video description: Trailer for this movie I’m currently reviewing, called 21.
My favorite parts about the movie:
1. Absolute lack of plot holes you could push a space shuttle through.
2. The remix of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” over the closing scenes was JAMMING. It was like a trip-hop remix of the Stones’ classic! SO GOOD! It got me so pumped for the
new Martin Scorcese movie about the Rolling Stones! THAT MOVIE IS GOING TO REDEFINE “HOT” AND “JAMMING LIKE CRAZY.”
3. Every other part.
Couple complaints about 21:
1. Not enough shots of the college kids walking through the casino in slow-motion.
2. The hero’s nerd friends, whom he betrays and ignores once he becomes all “Mr. Cool Las Vegas” should have been even fatter and nerdier. They were pretty fat and nerdy, but the
director should have just “gone there” and made them each 400 pounds fat. That would have been interesting, to see how fat a nerd can get before he is physically incapable of being a nerd.
3. During the “Now we’re in Las Vegas counting cards” montage, they should have made the sounds louder. When the dealer would turn over a card, the camera would zoom in and the
card would make this kind of swooshing, tornado/explosion sound. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN EVEN LOUDER TO GET ME MORE PUMPED. After I saw the movie, I ran home and turned on ESPN2 to watch some “Poker Tournament”
shows, hoping to hear more swooshing sounds. But guess what? It was just some chubby guys in sunglasses looking at their cards, like, once every ten minutes and when they turned their cards over
it just sounded soft, like regular cards.
FINAL VERDICT: 21 STARS (OUT OF 5 POSSIBLE STARS)
Isn’t it so cool that I’m making fun of 21? Seriously, if you know me personally, and you want your smile of the day, then: Just imagine me sitting in the theatre literally watching this movie. Because that’s totally what I did.
It’s just that I’m fascinated with gambling, with beating the system, with the thrills of “Sin City.” And, truth be told, one of my new favorite movies concerns gambling. And it is the best movie, and I’ll write about
it later today or tomorrow because it’s so great and I’ve already watched it on TV three times and when I tell you what movie it is you’ll think I’m crazy. Because it’s so trashy. But you know what? I LOVE IT.