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Movie Overview
Cast
• Kevin Spacey
• Jim Sturgess
• Kate Bosworth
Director
• Robert Luketic
MPAA Rating
PG-13 - for some violence, and sexual content including partial nudity.
Theatrical Release
Mar 28, 2008 (Wide)
21 (2008)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS OTHER
OFCS Rating: 25% Rotten
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2.5/5
"a genial, generic effort attached to an intrinsically interesting premise."  Filmcritic.com  Bill Gibron

B
"Much like Las Vegas itself, it's only fun in fits, and the next morning you might find yourself regretting spending time with something comprised entirely of surface delights."  BrianOrndorf.com  Brian Orndorf

C-
""21" relies too heavily on music video montages to connect its cardboard characters."  Daily Radar  Cole Smithey

"As Ben must learn a lesson, the movie must demonize Micky, whose slick meanness becomes increasingly visible."  PopMatters  Cynthia Fuchs

1/4
"...the film quickly devolves into an interminable mess of hoary cliches and stale conventions (a trying-on-clothes montage? Really?)"  Reel Film Reviews  David Nusair

3/4
"A pulse-poundingly high-spirited and extremely well-directed drama. If 21 is only one thing, it's intoxicating."  TheMovieBoy.com  Dustin Putman

1/4
"You have a director so inept that he doesn't even understand what genre he's working within and he's helped destroy potentially one of the most riveting and important social statements about Las Vegas the movies could have seen."  eFilmCritic.com  Erik Childress

C
"In its desperation to deliver an action-packed suspense set piece of an ending, 21 asks the audience to suspend all disbelief, and basically begs to be laughed at."  Film Blather  Eugene Novikov

C
"A glib, flashy reworking of a story that, shorn of the cheap formulaic frills that have been added to it in the name of merchandising, might have been fascinating."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

2/4
"While I'm firm believer in the adage 'Never let the truth get in the way of a good story,' 21 doesn't spin a good enough yarn to justify all the changes."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

3/4
"Jim Sturgess turns up the heat as an untapped genius who takes a walk on the wild side."  Palo Alto Weekly  Jeanne Aufmuth

C
"It tries to be as slick and as cool as an MTV music video, but it completely busts."  Film School Rejects  Kevin Carr

C+
"Director Robert Luketic has aimed for a "Casino" 90210 style that works until its third act revenge story takes it beyond the realms of belief."  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

2.5/4
"The end result is still utterly predictable, thoroughly disposable and less true than truthy."  TV Guide's Movie Guide  Maitland McDonagh

"[A]lmost entirely preposterous -- never mind that it's apparently based on a true story -- and yet somehow wonderfully entertaining at the same time..."  Flick Filosopher  MaryAnn Johanson

3/4
"21 is not the deepest or most emotionally resonant of the casino films, and it doesn't completely get the psychology of gambling, but it's a lot of fun nonetheless."  Aisle Seat  Mike McGranaghan

2/4
"21 is a mini-Ocean's Eleven about, and for, people who are the age of its title."  Slant Magazine  Nick Schager

2/5
"O implaus?l terceiro ato praticamente arru? o que o filme vinha mostrando de interessante at?nt?"  Cinema em Cena  Pablo Villaca

1/5
"A slick, soulless nightmare of a film with the moral center of a porno flick and a central character so shallow, loathsome and uninteresting that you keep hoping that the guys from "Funny Games" will show up and give him exactly what he deserves."  eFilmCritic.com  Peter Sobczynski

2/5
"This movie's script sticks so closely to formula that it could be a film school project."  Shadows on the Wall  Rich Cline

C-
"I probably should have given it a lower grade, but I really, really like watching Laurence Fishburne hurt people."  Flipside Movie Emporium  Rob Vaux

"Because 21 subscribes to the allure of Vegas and not how it is infiltrated with logic and quantification, its details are subordinated in service to familiar cinematic protocol."  Not Coming to a Theater Near You  Rumsey Taylor

"It’s the old Hollywood game of payback in place of amends, which makes for short-term satisfaction but a hollow payoff."  Seattle Post-Intelligencer  Sean Axmaker

2/4
"(The book) raises a number of interesting arguments, most of which (the movie) ignores."  Charlotte Weekly  Sean O'Connell

"Numerous inane plot twists and a convenient villain whose behavior defies logic or meaning."  Salon.com  Stephanie Zacharek

7/10
"Here's the deal: this is sheer escapist entertainment - and, as such, it's a good gamble."  SSG Syndicate  Susan Granger

6/10
"Fun and nothing else, but enough so that it's worth the while."  Antagony & Ecstasy  Tim Brayton

1/4
"A film that makes Rounders seem like a work of great seriousness and import."  Film Freak Central  Walter Chaw
OFCS Rating: 25% Rotten
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