Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures [Click to enlarge]

Don't you hate it when a friend tries too hard? We can tell. That Forever 21 tube top just isn't her. And she doesn't usually say things like that. She's not that cool. She's not that suave and alluring. And it's not working.

The Robert Luketic-directed film "21" is like that friend. Gosh, she really is trying. She wants so badly to be exciting, so badly to be funny. But she just isn't. It's not like she's failing miserably - we can just see through it.

"21" stars Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) and Kate Bosworth (The Rules of Attraction).

"21" revolves around a group of five students, advised by Mickey Rosa (Spacey), that counts cards in blackjack in Vegas on the weekends. Brilliant senior Ben Campbell (Sturgess) is vying for a full-ride scholarship to Harvard medical school. The admissions director compels Campbell "to dazzle and to jump off the page."

Campbell is bewildered. Although a senior in college and 21 years old, the fatherless student has yet to truly experience anything. That is, until he enters Rosa's classroom.

Campbell jumps out to Rosa as what he needs for his under-the-table Vegas ventures.

The lure of money for that $300,000 his waitress mama can't afford for medical school is what pulls Campbell into the gambling ring.

The overall idea of this film isn't terrible, but it is overdone.

In order to make this movie interesting, compelling and worth the two-hour investment, the writing would have to be impeccable, entertaining and, at times, hysterical.

I say this because it feels like I've seen this before. A young nerdy mama's boy gets caught up in a mess, neglects his "real friends," loses it all and ends up figuring out what really matters. I have seen this before, because I've seen "Hackers." The only difference between the two is this movie is trying to be serious.

The film was written by Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb and was loosely based on Ben Mezrich's book "Bringing Down the House." The screenplay was decent, but maybe a tad bit overdone. The comic relief of a poorly done Jonah Hill rip-off and an Asian kleptomaniac was mundane at best.

Mere minutes into the film, a Geico commercial reference is thrown at the audience. Really? Aren't we a little late on that bandwagon? Does this mean that a Budweiser "Wasssssup" is next? Let's hope not.

The five MIT students venture into sin city every weekend where Campbell quickly gets lost in the allure of the money, the Gucci suits, and Bosworth's portrayal of Jill Taylor.

Speaking of that allure of money and hot college girls, Luketic does seem to do one thing right - he makes Vegas incredibly appealing, sexy and delightfully extravagant. If only the characters were cooler.

I was actually compelled to go to Vegas after seeing the film, which is a true sign of good cinematography. It is the ultimate city - intrinsically sinful, the ultimate paradise of gambling, sexual energy and 24/7 stimuli. But the main reason I want to go to Vegas is to do a better job of being a badass than Sturgess and his crew did.

I've hung out with the gods of cool - rock stars, comedians, actors and actresses - and not once did anything come out of one of their mouths similar to the lame lines uttered by the college students in this movie.

Visually the movie was stimulating, but what happened to Spacey doing good movies? Where is another "Se7en"? Another "American Beauty"? Spacey, you've disappointed me with your poorly acted villain.

And Robert Luketic, you directed "Legally Blonde," which was a smart comedy. What made you take on this project? You did a competent job, but I'm still not impressed.

This is not to say that the film was terrible; it wasn't. The mediocre writing and acting that matched didn't manage to dazzle me. If the movie were vying for a full-ride scholarship, I'd pick someone else.

Briana Monasky can be reached at bmonasky@statehornet.com

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