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34
10,000 B.C.
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36
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xx
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31
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41
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57
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67
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54
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49
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34
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57
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xx
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71
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65
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24
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37
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xx
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58
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48
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55
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22
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69
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44
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53
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37
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61
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47
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55
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33
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93
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64
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36
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54
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93
WALL-E
79
Iron Man
76
Shine a Light
73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Horton Hears a Who!
69
Redbelt
67
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
62
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The
61
Stop Loss
61
Incredible Hulk, The
58
Mist, The
57
Forbidden Kingdom, The
57
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
55
Street Kings
55
Nim's Island
55
Baby Mama
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
49
Hancock
48
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
47
Strangers, The
44
Ruins, The
41
Drillbit Taylor
37
Made of Honor
37
Shutter
37
Speed Racer
36
College Road Trip
36
What Happens in Vegas...
35
Jumper
34
Happening, The
34
10,000 B.C.
33
Superhero Movie
31
Deception
24
Love Guru, The
22
Postal
xx
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
xx
Dark Knight, The
xx
Mamma Mia!
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

83
Alexandra
80
Band's Visit, The
76
Beauty in Trouble
47
Bella
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
59
Blind Mountain
55
Bra Boys
60
Brick Lane
70
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49
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83
Chop Shop
83
Chris & Don. A Love Story
78
Counterfeiters, The
52
Diminished Capacity
64
Dreams with Sharp Teeth
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
84
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52
Elsa & Fred
79
Encounters at the End of the World
62
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64
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51
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57
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86
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63
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60
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45
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55
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69
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74
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63
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68
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34
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55
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69
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60
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62
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63
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82
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38
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70
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64
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30
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33
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53
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74
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52
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52
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71
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84
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61
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69
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61
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72
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51
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55
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29
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79
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71
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56
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51
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76
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66
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70
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62
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72
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81
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xx
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71
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54
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70
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72
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83
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56
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86
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79
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62
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37
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64
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66
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55
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72
Woman on the Beach
64
XXY
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75
Young@Heart
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
84
My Winnipeg
84
Edge of Heaven, The
83
Chop Shop
83
Paranoid Park
83
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Chris & Don. A Love Story
82
Last Mistress, The
81
Tell No One
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Band's Visit, The
79
Reprise
79
Encounters at the End of the World
79
Visitor, The
78
Counterfeiters, The
76
Beauty in Trouble
76
Shotgun Stories
75
Young@Heart
74
Mongol
74
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
72
Woman on the Beach
72
Priceless
72
Tuya's Marriage
72
Surfwise
71
To the Limit
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
71
Roman de gare
70
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Trumbo
70
Love Songs
70
Caramel
69
Go-Getter, The
69
Operation Filmmaker
69
Jellyfish
68
Kabluey
68
Heartbeat Detector
68
Honeydripper
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
66
Son of Rambow
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
Married Life
64
Dreams with Sharp Teeth
64
XXY
64
Water Lilies
64
Fall, The
63
Foot Fist Way, The
63
Gunnin for that #1 Spot
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Stuck
62
Expired
62
Wackness, The
62
Kiss the Bride
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
61
On the Rumba River
60
Fugitive Pieces
60
Brick Lane
60
Jihad for Love, A
59
Blind Mountain
57
Flawless
56
Unknown Woman
56
Then She Found Me
56
Sangre de mi sangre
55
Quid Pro Quo
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
55
Irina Palm
55
Bra Boys
55
Without the King
54
Tracey Fragments, The
53
Mister Lonely
52
Diminished Capacity
52
Elsa & Fred
52
Mother of Tears, The
52
My Blueberry Nights
51
Finding Amanda
51
Promotion, The
51
Savage Grace
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Bella
45
Full Grown Men
38
Life Before Her Eyes, The
37
War, Inc.
34
Holding Trevor
33
Miss Conception
30
Meet Bill
29
Red Roses and Petrol
xx
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
21
Columbia Pictures (Sony)
 |
|
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some violence, and sexual content including partial nudity
Starring
Jim Sturgess,
Kate Bosworth,
Laurence Fishburne,
Kevin Spacey,
Liza Lapira,
Josh Gad,
Aaron Yoo,
and
Sam Golzari
Ben Campbell is a shy, brilliant MIT student who, needing to pay school tuition, finds the answers in the cards. He is recruited to join a group of the school's most gifted students that heads to Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack in their favor. With unorthodox math professor and stats genius Micky Rosa leading the way, they crack the code. By counting cards and employing an intricate system of signals, the team can beat the casinos big-time. Seduced by the money, the Vegas lifestyle, and his smart and sexy teammate, Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), Ben begins to push the limits. Though counting cards isn't illegal, the stakes are high, and the challenge becomes not only keeping the numbers straight, but staying one step ahead of the casinos' menacing enforcer, Cole Williams. (Columbia Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Ben Mezrich (book "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions")
Allan Loeb
Peter Steinfeld
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Robert Luketic
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: July 22, 2008
Theatrical: March 28, 2008
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
123 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
21 drags itself to a climax that puts credulity in splints. So what? In a multiplex of dumb-luck hits, it's a kick to watch Spacey and a gifted young cast use smarts to deal audiences a winning hand.

75
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
The fun of 21 is the way that this sharp, hyperaware star in the making, his face as readable as a mood ring, pours us into an adrenalized cocktail of fear, desire, and mental buzz.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
21 makes for some slick escapist fantasy. Even if, and because, the fantasy has its roots in something real.

70
The Hollywood Reporter
John DeFore
Escapist moviegoers happy to live out a flashy fantasy get a brief comeuppance and still walk away from the table with a little something in their pockets.

70
Variety
Joe Leydon
Picture shrewdly shuffles together attractive young leads, cagey screen vets and a fantasy-fulfillment scenario in a slickly polished package that should appeal to anyone who's ever dreamed of beating the odds.

63
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
A predictable moral tale enacted by blandly pretty young things who bear little resemblance to the average brainiac.

60
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
Spacey's engaging for a while in one of his patented double-edged, sharky roles.

60
Empire
Olly Richards
The Ocean’s Eleven: The College Years mood makes for a breezy good time, even if there is, like Vegas, precious little substance beneath the glitz.

58
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
21 isn't insultingly stupid. But there's a gap between what we're told about its characters and what we can see for ourselves, a gap that gets larger and more frustrating as the film goes on.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
A movie with an irresistible premise that ultimately collapses around the whole issue of motivation. Until it does, this is a thoroughly entertaining picture.

50
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
The more moralistic 21 gets, the less enjoyable it is.

50
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Crust
What might have been a complex story dealing with greed and high-stakes betrayal among the young intellectual elite in America's gaming playground is instead treated as a slick, glossy romp.

50
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
Except for Spacey's talent, elements don't add up.

50
Premiere
Ryan Stewart
There are moments where Spacey and Bosworth have their fun in spite of the film -- they both adopt Southern "characters" as disguises at one point, which is a hoot -- but overall, 21 is a busted hand.

50
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
No movie with Kevin Spacey as a heartless prick can be all bad, but this gambling thriller, based on Ben Mezrich's nonfiction book
"Bringing Down the House," hasn't got much else going for it.

50
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
21 doesn't spin a good enough yarn.

50
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
21 isn’t pretentious, exactly, but it’s damn close, and in trying to whip up a melodramatic morality tale the film becomes an increasingly flabby slog.

50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
A thoroughly ordinary drama of temptation, dubious redemption and easy revenge.

50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
What a big cheat of a movie. Wanting to be everything to everybody – a tough gambling picture, a revenge-of-the-nerds fantasy, a Vegas caper flick, a sweet little romance, a simple morality tale – 21 is just a bet-hedger dealing from multiple decks, designed to leave you with an occasional tidbit to like but nothing at all to love.

50
USA Today
Claudia Puig
While not exactly a zero, 21 lags and fails to measure up dramatically.

50
Wall Street Journal
Joanne Kaufman
Very little adds up in 21.

50
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
The early scenes are flashy fun, and Sturgess (handsome Jude in "Across the Universe") makes a convincing math geek. But the requisite romance and Hollywood-style ending feel as fake as the air allegedly pumped into casinos to revive flagging players

50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
A slick, shallow and thoroughly generic caper flick.

42
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Short of counting the cards out loud, these geniuses seem to do everything they can to get caught.

40
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The story may be based on real events, but most of it feels patently false.

40
The New York Times
Manohla Dargis
Greed is good and comes without a hint of conscience in 21, a feature-length bore about some smarty-pants who take Vegas for a ride.

40
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
Spacey, whose Trigger Street Productions is one of the film's producers, digs into his role as the story's snarky mastermind and lure, yet it's all the kind of stuff we've seen him deliver in so many movies before.

38
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
The movie's chief audience, consequently, will probably be gullible and young, responding to the cliches only because they haven't seen them before. They have a word in Vegas for these people: Suckers.

30
Village Voice
Robert Wilonsky
A movie that wastes a lot of time and money and really, REALLY shoulda stayed in Vegas.


The average user rating for this movie is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 37 User Votes
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