21 (2008)

21 rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb6.8/10· 280K votes

Rotten Tomatoes36%

Metacritic48%

TMDb6.692/10· 5K votes

With 36% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 6.8/10 on IMDb and 48/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been modest.

About 21

Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent student at M.I.T. who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 tuition as he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor to a small but secretive club of five students, Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Fisher, who are being trained by Professor Rosa to count cards at blackjack.

Cast of 21

• 

  Jim Sturgess

  as Ben Campbell

• 

  Kevin Spacey

  as Micky Rosa

• 

  Kate Bosworth

  as Jill Taylor

• 

  Aaron Yoo

  as Choi

• 

  Liza Lapira

  as Kianna

• 

  Jacob Pitts

  as Fisher

• 

  Laurence Fishburne

  as Cole Williams

• 

  Jack McGee

  as Terry

• 

  Josh Gad

  as Miles

• 

  Sam Golzari

  as Cam

• 

  Helen Carey

  as Ellen Campbell

• 

  Jack Gilpin

  as Bob Phillips

21 facts

Budget

$35M

Box office

$159.8M

Our take on 21

Robert Luketic's 2008 crime drama centers on Ben Campbell, a brilliant MIT student desperate to fund a place at Harvard's medical school. Unable to cover the steep tuition on his working-class means, he's recruited by an unorthodox math professor into a small, secretive circle of students trained to count cards and beat the blackjack tables. What starts as a way out becomes a high-stakes double life. It's a slick, morality-tinged thriller about ambition, temptation and the cost of easy money, best suited to viewers who enjoy casino intrigue and clever-scheme storytelling. Expect gloss and momentum rather than gritty realism, with the pull of reinvention at its heart.