blackjack

• 21 directed by Robert Luketic (2008)

  [5/10]

  "The camera and the film editor do more work than the actors. We see hundreds of close up shots of casino chips, winning blackjack hands, and brief shots of the actors' faces smiling in flushed glee. The film relies on the rush of emotions viewers will feel in response to the large sums of money and not the acting."

• Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich (2002)

  [6/10]

  "The movie does a good job at recreating the emotional tension that Mezrich develops in the book. So, unless you have a keen desire to know the 'true story,' I think that the movie does in two hours what it takes the book 300 pages to produce. The book gives details like the fact that team gambles all over the country and not just in Vegas, but the movie condenses the emotional states that Mezrich wanted to convey into a much more intense experience."

  Average score: 5.50