21 (PG-13) ***

"21" is decent escapist entertainment. It starts off well with Jim Sturgess playing gifted mathematics student Ben Campbell at MIT who catches the attention of his professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey). Ben is inducted into a special group of Rosa's students, including Jim's crush Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth). The group is taught by the professor to work as a team in counting cards at Vegas so they can make the big bucks. The film loses it's way 2/3rds in by not handling Jim's spiral into corruptive emotions with the same kind of wit and acumen as shown in earlier in the film. Still, it is an enjoyable caper where you get your money's worth.

Starring:
Jim Sturgess: Ben Campbell
Kate Bosworth: Jill Taylor
Kevin Spacey: Prof. Micky Rosa
Laurence Fishburne: Cole Williams
Aaron Yoo: Choi
Liza Lapira: Kianna
Jacob Pitts: Jimmy Fisher

Directed by Robert Luketic
Written by Peter Steinfeld & Allan Loeb
from the book "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions" by Ben Mezrich