So even if you choose to ignore the somewhat 'white-washed' casting for the big-screen version of Bringing Down the House, if you are a fan of the book you can't help but notice that there seems to be very little that remains of the original (and fascinating) story of a group of 'math nerds' who became high stakes card sharks. Sony has just launched the official site for 21 starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, and Kevin Spacey. Their site offers plenty of small video clips to watch and the usual downloadable offerings, but inexplicably they never give you the chance to play a little black jack of your own.21 centers on "Six MIT students, in a blackjack team, [who] train to become experts in card counting and subsequently take Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. However, casino workers become suspicious and attempt to take down the team, using any means necessary." Sturgess plays Ben Campell, a numbers genius who is struggling to pay his bills. He is recruited into a team of card counters by his professor (as played by Spacey) and as to be expected, the good times don't last long. Ben starts to lose control and his mentor and friends turn on him just as the casinos are starting to catch on to the scam.
To be honest, as much as I enjoyed the book, I don't think I will be first in line for this one. Part of what made the book so interesting to me was that these were just regular people who became 'criminals'. The film seems to want to take a more Ocean's 11 approach right down to the music in the trailer, and, frankly, it's been done before. 21 hits theaters on March 28th.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-07-2008 @ 8:14PM
Funk said...
It's pretty funny. I read the book a while ago and, when I saw the trailer for the movie, I thought to myself that I could have sworn that the main character was Asian, but I wasn't sure if I had just imagined the wrong kind of character in my head. I'm just glad to know I was actually right. I'm looking forward to the movie, even if it is completely changed from the real story.
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2-08-2008 @ 12:01AM
Quinn said...
Read the book..loved it.
Heard they were making a movie...got excited.
Saw the trailer...endlessly depressed.
Looks like a Disney telling of the story.
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2-08-2008 @ 1:47PM
kevjohn said...
I haven't read the book, but I did see the documentary they did on... what was it, A&E? Fascinating tale, and might have made an equally fascinating movie. But I saw the trailer and could not believe or understand why they 'Hollywooded' it up so much.
Never underestimate the power of the teenaged dollar I guess.
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2-09-2008 @ 3:01PM
Bianca said...
When I first saw the trailer for "21", I couldn't help but think back to a Canadian film I saw a while back called "The Last Casino" - VERY similar. I haven't read "Bringing Down the House" and I'm not quite sure if "The Last Casino" was based on that book either.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419909/
http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/archives/2007/11/21-looks-like-a-remake-of-the-last-casino.html
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2-19-2008 @ 11:01PM
Rex said...
All the main characters in Bringing Down The House are actually Asian. The two main characters, "Kevin Lewis" and "Jason Fisher" are in real life Jeff Ma and Mike Aponte. Here's some info on each of them.
http://www.protrade.com/AboutManagement.html
http://www.blackjackinstitute.com/store/Mike_Aponte_pic.php
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