|
SYNOPSIS:
Inspired by the true story of MIT students who mastered the
art of card counting and took Vegas casinos for millions in
winnings. Looking for a way to pay for tuition, Ben Campbell
(Jim Sturgess) finds himself quietly recruited by MIT's most
gifted students in a daring plot to break Vegas. With the
help of a brilliant statistics professor (Kevin Spacey) and
armed with fake IDs, intelligence and a complicated system
of counting cards, Ben and his friends succeed in breaking
the impenetrable casinos. Now, his challenge is keeping the
numbers straight and staying one step ahead of the casinos
before it all spirals out of control.
MOVIE
REVIEW
Imagine how nice it would be if Hollywood decides
to make a movie based on your life. Never mind if you don’t
look like a Hollywood star, they will get an up and coming
good looker to play you. All the not so exciting aspects of
your life will be decorated with the glitz and glamour that
is ever so typical of Hollywood movies. Your life will be
seen by hundreds and thousands of viewers in the cinema, and
you’d definitely be the envy of your friends. This movie
directed by Robert Luketic (Monster in Law, Legally Blonde)
does just that, and adds a whole lot of melodrama to the true
story too - whether that’s a good or bad thing, it depends
on your preference for movies.
Based
on a true life account of how six MIT students went to Las
Vegas casinos and earned millions in winnings after being
trained to become expert card counters, we have Ben Campbell
as the protagonist in this movie, a young and intelligent
young man. To pay for his hefty school fees, his intelligence
in Mathematics is adapted to clever card playing skills by
a professor by chance. Inject elements of romance, corruption,
greed and arrogance, and you’d get 123 minutes of solid
drama played against the bright lights of Las Vegas casinos.
Jim
Sturgess continues to charm audiences with his boyishly pleasant
persona to play the protagonist. Kate Bosworth (Superman Returns,
Beyond the Sea) plays his team mate cum love interest with
a nice touch of spunkiness and sexiness. Heavyweights Laurence
Fishburne (Akeelah and the Bee, The Matrix Trilogy) and Kevin
Spacey (The Shipping News, Pay It Forward) also have substantial
roles to play in this movie. There are a whole lot of supporting
cast played by lesser known actors which somehow dilutes the
story of the picture, as well as the characterizations of
the main leads.
The
movie can also come of as dreary to viewers who like their
movies fast and choppy, because there is quite a bit of talking
throughout its runtime. And it takes someone who is really
interested in Mathematics and card games to be thoroughly
engaged in the movie.
This
isn’t that bad a movie actually, because there are still
highlights to look out for. Neon lights, jackpot machines,
Vegas fountains and the colorful array of gamblers make for
dazzling cinematography. The topic also makes for snazzy editing.
And if these don’t appeal to you, there’s always
the melodrama which includes twists and turns, making you
forget that this is supposed to be based on a true story.
You may continue to wish that your life will be adapted into
a Hollywood movie – now to make your life more interesting
so that someone will notice it.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains a Filmmaker Commentary
with director Luketic and producers Dana Brunetti and Michael
De Luca where the trio talk about how much fun they had working
on the film (don’t they all?), the challenges of making
card playing dramatic and how they added the human element
in the movie. The five minute The Advantage Player
gives you a history of the Black Jack game and give you some
basic strategies (with a detailed chart and percentage chances
too!) to play the game well – quite an interesting featurette
considering our IR is popping up real soon. The 25-minute
Basic Strategy: A Complete film Journal is
a making of featurette where you see the original guy the
movie is based on – he’s an Asian! The seven minute
Money Plays: A Tour of the Good Life shows
viewers how the lifestyles of the students transformed before
and after school in Boston and Vegas. Architecture, costumes
and the contrasting aesthetics are discussed here. There are
also Previews of other Sony releases like
Hancock and Vantage Point.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
visual transfer is pristine enough to showcase the glamorous
bright lights of Vegas, while there are audio options of English,
Spanish, Portuguese and Thai 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtracks
to choose from.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
|
