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21
A novel transformation
By
BRETT MICHEL
|
March 25, 2008
21
" alt="photo of '21'">
2.0
Stars
21
In need of $300,000 for grad school at Harvard Med, Southie-bred MIT senior and former nerd Ben Campbell (
Across the Universe
’s Jim Sturgess) has left his robot-building pals to their virgin ways, finding his inner cardsharp during weekend trips to Vegas with a clandestine group of card-counting students led by smug math professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey, still playing
American Beauty
’s Lester Burnham, with an emphasis on ham). Director Robert (
Legally Blonde
) Luketic has transformed Ben Mezrich’s mostly non-fiction (and fairly non-readable) bestseller
Bringing Down the House
, adding mostly non-facts that include a villain (Spacey), lots of danger, a sexy dame (Kate Bosworth), another villain (Laurence Fishburne), and a new identity (including race) for Campbell (real name Jeff Ma). An Asian leading man is, it seems, too big a gamble for Hollywood’s myopic big players.
123 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Harvard Square + Somerville Theatre + Chestnut Hill + Embassy + suburbs
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