Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I can't play blackjack anymore. I do enjoy gambling (totally small time, of course), but I don't think I've won at Blackjack in 4 years. My casino game of choice now is poker. It's slow, I have a little control over what I do and while the stakes aren't huge, neither is the pressure. I have fun playing it.

But I do love blackjack... I just don't win at it.

So, yeah. I know of this story, about how 6 MIT students constructed a plot involving card counting to hit up Vegas for all they could. It sounds like it'd make a great movie and from the below review they just might have a great movie ready for us come March '08 when the film is released. This is a very early screening. Keep that in mind while reading. And Johnny B. Rotten doesn't like to capitalize. Keep that in mind, too. heh Enjoy!

i recently had the opportunity to see robert luketic's new film '21' and since i have yet to see anything posted i thought why the hell not right ?! i mean ive been an arm chair quarter back for to long on this site ... its time to get in and play with the big boys and there big toys ! and boy does that sound gay . well i could take it back but that would mean for me to erase and come up with something ... well not better but all the same different . and that just stinks of effort so i will have to stick to it for now . first ive never been accused of being a literary genius so im not goin to apologize for any misspellings or run on sentences or missing quotation marks or capital letters or ... well i think you get the point !

so here goes ... 21 . ive read the book its based on 'bringin down the house' and since have passed it on to friends as a pretty interesting read long before i knew of a movie in the works . so once i did hear word about a film being made i really didnt know what to expect other than that 'hollywood' would probably ultimately royally fuck it up . now when the opportunity comes my way to see one of these 'early' screening for a movie i usually just pass on it because there is always a catch isnt there ?! i mean again the smell of effort ... you have to stop and actually talk to someone then call someone else then wait for them to call you back and then talk to them and then drive somewhere then wait in a line for over an hour and then and only then you might get sent home . besides when youre on your way into seein 'the bourne ultimatum' you really dont want anything slowin ya down . but the title '21' caught my eye and before i know it i was about to get very stinky .

i will be short ... well maybe ... either way here we go . the film is directed by robert luketic 'legally blonde and win a date with tad fame' and stars mr fishburne mr spacey and mrs bosworth plus as far as im concerned newcomer jim sturgess . the story of '21' follows sturgess character 'ben' as he becomes mixed up with a group of fellow m i t students counting cards on weekend get-a-ways to sin city . spacey plays a shady teacher at m i t who recruits these kid geniuses to play the game 21 and make him a lot of coin on the side . then comes in morpheus as the old time security guy or the heavy to keep these cheater types from stepping a foot back in vegas ever again !

truth be told this movie did work ... i mean really worked for about 3/4 of the way through . felt like a 'rounder's' type of movie that you could really bring the family to . if that makes sense at all . they changed the format of the book and gave the movie its own life which mr legally blonde and mr loeb 'writer' did an excellent job in letting it breath on it own ... all the characters were interesting and had a reason of being in each scene to tell the story that they were telling . every character except the two asian actors that is ... they seem to be there simple for comic relief and it worked but mostly because the other actors just treated them like they we're just retarded .

another couple things that really worked well before hollywood took over was 1; the scenes between ben and his friends that he leaves behind to persue his new high roller life is played really well . the actors the director and the writer do a great job in really being true to the given circumstances and number 2; was the 'love' story . for the first bit of the film ben is infatuated with bosworths jill but she is only interested in him being apart of the 'team' . luketic and the script handle this really well because they'd tease the audience at different points into thinking 'ok here come the romance' but no ! i really liked that and i thought ok they are not goin to play it safe but more 'real' to life . but no ... and it comes in such a shocking way that this was the turning point for me . this is were the hollywood suits got fed up standing on the side lines and charged it ... every thing from then on is something you have seen before . it does need to be said that its handled well in the sense that pretty much everyone in the theater loved the film ... the couple beside me said it was the best movie they have seen in a long time . seeing something for free does greess the weels though doesnt it ?!

the ending did tie everything up and you go home happy ... unless you think like i did because i really wanted the film to stay the course . its not bad at all in fact quite the opposite but i was really feeling like we were going to be getting something really original , something special ... better than the book BUT of course life is just a big old mystery isnt it . all the performances were great and i really like fishburne , personally not a huge fan , but i though he was wonderful in this one . spacey well i think i must be the only one in the world who gets tired of his 'im to cool for school' type of acting where hes always smarter than everyone else . its his diliverly thats always bothered ... loved it when pacino finally gives it to him in 'glengarry glen ross' fuckin loved it . in this one i liked him but i guess there may be a reason for that as well . that a part of the story and i dont want ruin it for anyone out there .

so dont know how this reads and it might sound more on the negative side but really its not ... just some harsh constructive critisim ! ill tell ya what this film did for me personally ... for now im more interested in mr luketics career and to see what he can pull off as he continues to grow . what im thinking is that he has it in him to make something from start to finish that can border on the comercial market and still ring with originality at the same time . something like a 'tootsie' ... maybe ?! this film is shot and finished so there is no way they can improve on my so called problems that i had ... so i wish it the best .

should you spend your hard earned $$$ on '21' ......................................... sure go for it .

until then this is johnny B rotten out .