21 (2008)

An entire story is constructed around the fact that some smart kids from Boston made a lot of money 'cheating' at blackjack in Las Vegas. You can guess that I was not blown away by the plot.

There is really very little to say about the film it is so void of thought provoking substance. It desperately tries to get you to empathize with the difficult choices the protagonist makes, but the choices are easy - and ones that very few of us would ever have to make.

Something must be said of the opening shot of the protagonist riding his bike on a bridge in Boston - well done.

We are meant to be enamoured with the glitz of Vegas and the pressure of ivy league universities, but none of it speaks to the core of our existence. Greed, lust, temptation, etc. are some of the great themes and vices in history, but they are both moralized and glossed over in this flick. Everything is sensationalized and forgiven in the end - the character really is unchanged in the end.

Truth: In value, it is the pain of life experience that surpasses the excitement of life experience. (at least that is what the film tries to communicate)

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