I didn't accomplish a whole lot this weekend, including posting on this blog. I did, however, get to see a few dvds with my wife and my three boys this weekend. So, instead of my usual movie or book quote of the day, I am going to add a little mini-review of each film for those who haven't seen them.
The first movie Noelle and I watched was 21. The film centers around Ben Campbell, a shy, but brilliant MIT student who is accepted to Harvard Medical School. The last obstacle to overcome is to get a full-ride scholarship to pay the $300,000+ to attend. The faculty member who is interviewing him tells him that what really makes the difference for a student to get the scholarship is the life experience essay. The one that dazzles, wins. Ben's dreams are shattered as he reflects back on his rather unremarkable life due to his focus on academics.
An unorthodox professor notices Ben's brilliance and invites him to join a team of students that he has trained with a system for beating the house at blackjack. With no other prospects for paying his way through Harvard, Ben reluctantly joins the team and flies out to Las Vegas each weekend with the girl of his dreams and the other team members where they assume fake identities and count cards, making thousands of dollars each trip. The excitement of being whoever you want and the thrill of the win suck Ben in and blind him to the danger of a bitter casino enforcer who is being phased out of his job by a software program as well as another danger much closer to him.
Overall, I thought this was a pretty good movie. The dialogue did drag a bit in places and I could do without the scenes from the strip club, but Choi's cleptomaniac habits kept cracking me up as well as many other comical scenes and bits of dialogue, and the story moved enough to keep me interested. It was based on a true story and I thought it was great that the had the actual guy who counted cards as one of the blackjack dealers. (I think his name was Jeffrey. If you watch the film, it is the guy Ben calls his "brother from another mother.")
Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Bosworth, Aaron Yu and Liza Lapira all put in excellent performances and I loved the twist at the end. Overall, I would give this film a 7.5/10. Here is a quote from the film:
[a man caught counting cards is being beaten brutally by Cole Williams and his partner, Terry]
Cole Williams: You think you can beat the system? This is the system... beatin' you back!
[Cole smacks the counter in the face]
Cole Williams: You wanna count cards, you do it in Atlantic City! Get him up.
Terry: [growling] Let's go. Get up! On your feet!
Cole Williams: Count to five. Count to five!
Card Counter: [disillusioned] What?
Cole Williams: Count to five so that I can see you don't have brain damage, and you can go home.
Terry: Start with One.
Card Counter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Cole Williams: Good. Now... stop counting!
21
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