Guest Blogger: Alex N1

One character based movie that I am a big fan of is 21. It is a true story about a student at M.I.T. named Ben, looking to go to Harvard Medical School. He does get accepted but the amount of money needed is a huge issue. He needs $300,000 but has absolutely nowhere near that amount, so he joins a math club at school. It isn’t just any ordinary club however; it is a team in which they count cards while playing black jack to ensure easy winnings; the people in it and the coach spend their weekends in Las Vegas counting cards, betting big and winning thousands and thousands of dollars. His phenomenal math skills first get noticed by his math teacher who is also the coach of the card counting team. After Ben explains to his teacher and class the physics of variable change, and shows he is able to keep his cool under pressure and think with his head instead of his emotions, the coach knows he has found the perfect counter for their team. Everything is going great at first, he has scored the girl of his dreams and has enough money for Harvard, but after one mistake at a casino he loses all of it; that doesn’t stop him though, he is dead set on earning it all back. Ben, who is played by Jim Sturgess, was a perfect actor for this role. I think he did a great job; he was good at playing it cool when needed and then also showed he could be emotional. Mickey, the team coach who is played by Kevin Spacey, also did a very fine job. His character is more of a serious person and his facial expressions and tone of voice do a great job of showing that. Kate Bosworth also played a role in the movie as Jill, one of the teammates and Ben’s dream girl. Most reviews I have seen people have been negatively talking about this movie, such as the review on Entertainment Weekly gave this movie a D, I strongly disagree, this has easily become one of my favorite movies and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.