I'm a fanatic of the movies that have to do with robberies and scams, I love the whole planning and logistics process that involves executing a criminal coup. Absolutely all those movies amuse me and entertain me much more when they are seasoned with scientific or mathematical technicalities, this movie, for example, takes advantage of the manipulation of numbers to play a casino.

21 is a film full of adrenaline and excesses, where we see how the life of a young man changes thanks to his incredible mathematical and analytical skills, skills that lead him to earn large amounts of money for his education.

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The Scam.

The plot of this film takes us back to the life of a misfit young man, not to say, Nerd, who is sought out by one of his teachers to be part of his "gambling" group, a group that goes from casino to casino earning thousands of dollars in poker. The story takes place in a fantastic way with our protagonist gradually entering the dynamics of the game and adapting more and more to the pressure involved in defrauding a casino and defeating the house. However, despite the fact that everything was dreamy in the first few bars of the movie, everything gets complicated for our nerd friend when he has a problem with the professor and so the professor ends up robbing him of all he had managed to gather and in the process putting his dream of being a doctor at risk.

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At that point where the protagonist loses everything that had achieved the plot enters a slower rhythm of transition while a whole new plan of revenge against the teacher is orchestrated, we come to see the challenges that betting alone without a team behind brings as a consequence, in addition to what a breakup can cause in a young man who until recently led a common life. Fortunately, Ben manages to forge a plan against his teacher and recover what he had stolen from him.

The story doesn't have many innovations, almost everything happens as we hope it will, but the film manages to develop a key suspense that engages us. The scenes where the gambling team defeats the casino and the security agents in charge of the frauds are perfectly made to recreate an atmosphere of drama and intensity that makes the plot stand out in a very good way.

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The Gamblers

The characters are very well detailed in the film, we have a very good diversity that is supported and complemented when making the bets, but above all that they look good together, they are perfectly able to see themselves as a team working together to achieve a goal. Throughout the film we see how some characters evolve to become better, more important and more protagonists of interesting moments, while in some others we see the opposite, become tedious and boring.

The character of Ben Campbell played by Jim Sturgess is fantastic and charming, at first we find it boring and silly but after he begins to join the group of gamblers becomes more extrovert and brave, able to cope with what happens in front of him and help his friends. Besides, the way he manages to transmit his insecurities and fears with simple gestures is really great.

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The apple of the cake is undoubtedly Kevin Spacey as the teacher and leader of the players, as always Spacey conveys cynicism, mischief and a small malevolent look that gives a lot of emotion to the film. His character I don't think could have been played by anyone else, it's difficult for someone to have developed a character so well, at times he remembers a psychopath who would be capable (and he is) of everything for money, someone who is obsessed with winning and being better than others.

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Last Words.

Obviously my personal tastes are inclined to this type of movies, but for me beyond everything is a very entertaining film that achieves wonderfully to make us have a good time. Yes, the film is a little flooded with secondary subplots that do not matter much but it recovers thanks to the important moments, to the intense moments that are not few and that are used in great form.

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