21 (2008) Director: Robert Luketic

21 is an interesting little movie about a group of intelligent Massachusetts Institute of Technology students who take on the heavyweight casinos in Vegas to win $$$$$ by the technique of counting cards.

It's alright...entertaining enough...but pretty soulless. We follow Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell who wants to earn enough money to pay for his Harvard education but, as always with these types of films, 'gets in too deep'. Kevin Spacey as Maths academic Professor Mickey Rosa is excellent, spotting the potential of Ben and recruiting him to his special club of students.

You expect the pace of the film to pick up in Vegas, the ultimate adult playground and Sin City but sadly, this is where the movie starts to become lack lustre. 21 is based on real life material but you would still expect a bit more glitz and glam of Vegas in the film. It seems like an opportunity lost.

The cat and mouse game between Ben and casino security chief Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne) is good fun to watch though and there is a good twist at the end from their 'working' relationship.

21 isn't quite blackjack...but it's still worth a bet.

3/5 popcorn bites