Random Review #25: The movie "21"

Directed by Robert Luketic
Starring Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Lawrence Fishburne
Release date: March 29, 2008
Rated PG-13
Running time: 123 minutes

Jim Sturgess is a good actor. I thought "Across the Universe" was a decent movie, and that he definitely added a lot to it. I think the same of him in this movie. Sturgess plays the role of Ben Campbell, an MIT student that will do anything to get $300,000 so that he can afford to go to Harvard Medical school. He is soon invited to a meeting where he learns that his statistics (I think) teacher (played well by Spacey) is running a card-counting ring involving four other students. He is initially sketchy about the operation, but eventually Ben joins the team. He learns their methods, and goes through all of their tests. Then they start going to Vegas, and winning. It all goes well until a loss prevention officer (Lawrence Fishburne) starts to notice Ben winning a lot of money.
I'm not going to say anymore, because I don't want to ruin it, but it was a decent flick. The acting was okay (I noticed that the Asian dude stole every scene he was in), the story was good, and the idea behind it wasn't completely far-fetched. I've read the book that this is based on (which is a true story), and not a whole lot changed. It was obviously modernized (the original story takes place in 1994), but the meat of the story is the same, in the sense that it was about teachers taking students to count cards in Vegas. Oh, and the added love story with Kate Bosworth wasn't in the original one. And everyone in the true story was Asian (go figure).
One of my complaints about this movie is that it was so damn long. Clocking in at 123 minutes, this is definitely one of those movies that you are required to take a piss after.
So essentially, this was entertaining. I enjoyed it, but it was too long.

Note: I really wish this was review #21. Ah well.
Other note: I started putting the movie information at the top with this one. I may expand this to other reviews as well.