21 (2008/2-Disc Deluxe Edition/Sony DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: D     Film: D

 

 

Based on a true story, Robert Luketic’s 21 (2008) tells the tale of a group of MIT students who go for card playing over rocket science and figure out how to make money in Las Vegas, whose dirty secret is that the house always wins.  It is a good story, has the makings of a good film and was strong enough an idea to get Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne to sign on.  Unfortunately, though not smug, the Peter Steinfeld/Allan Loeb screenplay (based on the Ben Mezrich book) is so busy being slick and highlighting the “fastlane” aspect of the story that it becomes more like a Music Video than California Split.

 

The young newcomers as the MIT students are fairly good, but directed in a way that makes them shrill and you hope Joe Pesci will show up and bust them in a violent manner before they get away with any money.  The slickness also telegraphs how supposedly smart they are (and by implication, we somehow are not, unless we want to be thieves too) and both, is that condescending.  Some may not take the film that way, but it is the way it comes across and with zero character development, is a big disappointment.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is a little soft, in part from the stylized approach and also from this format.  We did not get a Blu-ray by press time sop we should not assume this will not look good in a higher format, but Russell Carpenter, A.S.C., is capable of good shooting and this is not bad.  It is just not my favorite work of his, but he can still claim responsibility for some of the success this film has.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not bad with a decent soundfield, but a mix that is sometimes overly sweetened.

 

Extras include a feature length filmmaker’s commentary on DVD 1, while DVD 2 has three featurettes and the ability to download a low-def version of the film for PCs and portable computer devices.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo