21 (2008 film)

21
Promotional poster
Directed by	Robert Luketic
Produced by	Kevin Spacey Brett Ratner Dana Brunetti Michael DeLuca
Written by	Peter Steinfeld Allan Loeb
Based on	Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich
Starring	Jim Sturgess Kate Bosworth Laurence Fishburne Kevin Spacey Liza Lapira Aaron Yoo Jacob Pitts
Music by	David Sardy
Cinematography	Russell Carpenter
Edited by	Elliot Graham
Production company	Relativity Media Trigger Street Productions Michael DeLuca Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	March 28, 2008 (2008-03-28)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$35 million
Box office	$157.9 million

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

21 is a 2008 American heist drama film directed by Robert Luketic and starring Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Bosworth, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, Aaron Yoo, and Kieu Chinh. The film is inspired by the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team as told in Bringing Down the House, the best-selling book by Ben Mezrich. Despite its largely mixed reviews and controversy over the film's casting choices, 21 was a box office success, and was the number one film in the United States and Canada during its first and second weekends of release.

Senior math major Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is accepted into Harvard Medical School, but cannot afford the $300,000 fee. Despite a 44 MCAT score and top grades, Ben faces fierce competition for the prestigious Robinson Scholarship that would pay for medical school in its entirety. The director tells him that the scholarship would go to the student who "dazzles" him. Ben did not have anything to dazzle the director then, so he walks away, trying to write an essay with nothing in mind to compose it.

At MIT, professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) challenges Ben with the Monty Hall problem in one of his non-linear equation classes, which he solves successfully. Rosa looks at Fisher with a look of amusement and is impressed by Ben's non fluctuating decisions who clings onto his theories of 'variable change'. After looking at Ben's score on his latest non-linear equations paper, on which he got 97%, Rosa invites Ben to join his blackjack team, which consists of fellow students Choi, Fisher, Jill, and Kianna. Despite being told by Rosa that he had already gotten into the Harvard Medical School, Ben refuses to join the team on the premise he had been promoted at his job. Next day, Jill visits Ben at his job and attempts to coax him into joining the team. The system involves card counting, and the team is split into two groups. "Spotters" play the minimum bet and keep track of the count. They send secret signals to the "big players", who place large bets whenever the count at the table is favorable. Ben reluctantly joins the team, telling Rosa he is only doing so until he can pay for medical school.