21 (2008)

This film is based on a true story. It's based on the actual story of a group of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) students learning to count cards in casinos all over Las Vegas. It's also based on a book called Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich

Summary

-Based on a true story, six students attending MIT learn the art of counting cards and blackjack and develop cues to let the others know when the hand was good, resulting in them taking Vegas casinos for millions of dollars in winnings

Cast

-Jim Sturgess: Ben Campbell

-Kevin Spacey: Mickey Rosa

-Kate Bosworth: Jill

-Aaron Yoo: Choi

-Lia Lapira: Kianna

-Jacob Pitts: Fisher

-Laurence Fishburne: Cole Williams

-Jack McGee: Terry

-Josh Gad: Miles

-Sam Golzari: Cam

-Helen Carey: Ellen Campbell

-Jack Gilpin: Bob Phillips

Did You Know?

-Despite being set in the present day era of 2007-2008, this film is based on an actual team of card counters who were active between 1979-1994. At one point, there were more than 80 people on the original MIT team

-Kevin Spacey, who played Professor Mickey Rosa, stated that some of the original players came with the actors and actresses to help with research. Despite not being allowed to play, they would push up against Kevin Spacey's chair every time he wanted to up the bet

-The main characters that the story was based on were of Asian descent. But when casting was done, many of the actors and actresses were Caucasian, which caused quite a controversy. In addition to that, actor Jim Sturgess, who plays Ben Campbell, had to work with a dialect coach to learn how to speak with an American accent, since the actor was born and raised in England

-This movie was used as a high level luxury prize on the TV program Big Brother 9. The prize being the chance to see an advance screening of the movie. The Big Brother game involved a blackjack competition. One of the winners won a trip to Las Vegas that was worth $21,000, and included a three night stay at the same hotel the actors from the film were staying in

-Many of the extras in the classroom scenes were actual Boston University students

-In the classroom scene with Professor Rosa, when he explains the three doors, is described as the Monty Hall problem. Named after the host of Let's Make a Deal from 1963, it's considered an example of a vertical paradox. It involves the best course of action usually not being taken because intuition tells you it might be wrong. As Ben accurately points out (and usually proven correctly), switching to the other door indeed increases chances, at least 2/3 odds versus the 1/3 odds for staying with the original choice

-The 2.09 robotics competition featured in this film is based on an actual 6.270 robotic competition held at MIT

-The source code for the robot is taken from the NOAA National Geodetic Survey GPS Toolbox

-In the scene where Ben apologizes to Jill (Kate Bosworth), a close look reveals that Kate has one brown eye and one blue eye

-The sunglasses worn by Laurence Fishburne throughout the movie are Randolph Engineering Aviators

-Jacob Pitts and Jim Sturgess both appeared together in the 2007 film Across the Universe