REVIEW: 21 (C-)

Background: Before anything else, I need to disclose a few things that colored my impression of 21. First, I went to college in Boston (specifically, at Boston University, the primary filming location for the movie) and I know my around the Las Vegas Strip. Secondly, though I don't know how to count cards, I am familiar with the story that eventually turned into Ben Mezrich's book Bringing Down the House, which was adapted into 21 (and given the new title to avoid confusion with the Steve Martin/Queen Latifah comedy classic). Neither of those facts make me special, but together they produced a lot of distractions that other viewers might have missed. Anyway, 21 was directed by Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde, Monster-In-Law) and stars veterans Kevin Spacey (Superman Returns) and Laurence Fishburne (Bobby), along with up-and-comers Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) and Kate Bosworth (Superman Returns). Controversy has been brewing for some time about the casting of the film, since all of the original members of the actual MIT team in 1994 were Asian-American males. It's only 2008, though, so Sturgess (an Englishman) was hired as the lead for no sensible reason other than to see if he can pull off an American accent (he can't). Of course, 21 is meant to be a "loose" adaptation, and I guess the multiple documentary versions of the story weren't sexy enough (cue Bosworth, though her character has some basis in reality). Hollywoodization was the next logical step, but at least Jeff Ma, on whom Sturgess' character is based, has a cameo as a Blackjack dealer at Planet Hollywood.

Synopsis: Ben Campbell (Sturgess) is a saint and a genius. It's his senior year at MIT and he's applied for a prestigious full-ride scholarship to Harvard Medical School, but during his initial interview he's told his resume doesn't "jump off the page" and he glumly goes back to his blameless life. How will he get $300,000 to pay for tuition and expenses? Certainly not from the robotics project he's been working on with his impossibly nerdy friends, nor from his $8/hr job. Fortunately, opportunity comes knocking when his professor, Micky Rosa (Spacey), recruits him to join Rosa's secret Blackjack club, which also happens to include Ben's crush, Jill Taylor (Bosworth), on its roster. Initially hesitant, Ben is awkwardly seduced by Jill with a necktie and he decides winning at Blackjack is his only way to pay for med school. The plan is simple, and brilliant: the "spotters" will count the cards in the deck to determine the probability of what's left to play before signaling Ben in to the table to bet big when the deck is "hot." Micky takes the crew to Vegas for their first of many successful weekend trips, however hormones and tensions rage as Ben and Jill grow close and a jerk member of the team grows jealous of Ben's success. To make matters worse, Cole Williams (Fishburne) is monitoring the group's activity from his lair below Planet Hollywood, where they often play. Vegas is phasing out security firms in place of face-detection technologies, and Williams is fighting for his job and his trade. Counting cards is not illegal, but Williams will provide "services" (beatdowns) to casinos that become aware of gamblers counting at their tables. It doesn't take long before Micky's plan unravels - Ben is greedy and arrogant and Williams is waiting to strike. By this point the movie is a full-on farce, and before it casually ends we're treated to fake moustaches, cheesy dialogue and something missing from too many movies: a chase through a restaurant kitchen.

I Loved:
+ The nostalgia of seeing BU inside and out on the big screen. Alumni will recognize the Mugar basement, the BU Pub (and Castle), the new fitness center (new since I went there), Bay State Road and other spots. You probably won't recognize the Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square (I didn't), which was apparently dressed up as a Las Vegas spa.

I Liked:
+ Kevin Spacey as a more believable villain than his Lex Luthor. His work since 1999 has been embarrassing, but he still has a twinkle in his eye. On the same note, Laurence Fishburne has also been underachieving lately, hasn't he?
+ The soundtrack - appropriate, energetic, and thankfully missing Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation."
+ Aaron Yoo (Rocket Science) and Liza Lapira (Cloverfield) in charming supporting roles - and I guess I appreciated that they're Asian-American.

I Disliked:
- The almost obscenely predictable clichés: steamy Chinatown with the year-round Chinese New Year celebration and parade; "Sir - you forgot your bag" (were you holding your breath?); the clandestine, underground security dungeon (why is it always so dark in those rooms with monitors?); the 2.0.9. competition triumph; the sound of cards landing on the table with the force of an atomic bomb; "Me and Micky Rosa go way back..." (you don't say!); etc., etc., etc.
- Jim Sturgess, unfortunately. I don't know what it was here, but he didn't fit and the voiceovers were terrible. The accent and terrible script didn't help.

I Hated:
- The ridiculous errors in geography. I'll leave the Boston stuff alone (but - Jill lives in Quincy?) because most people aren't familiar enough with it, but the Las Vegas Strip is too well-known for such egregious errors. They stay at the Hard Rock (not even on Las Vegas Blvd.) and stroll downstairs to the brand new Red Rock Casino (about 15 miles away from the Strip)? The penthouse at the Hard Rock overlooks the Bellagio from across the street? Uh, not even close. You wouldn't put the Empire State Building overlooking Central Park. What's the difference here?
- The jaw-dropping script that featured some of the worst dialogue I've heard in years: "I've already lost everything; I don't want to lose you, too."

Grade:
Writing - 4
Acting - 6
Production - 9
Emotional Impact - 8
Music - 5
Significance - 3

Total: 35/50= 70% = C-

Last Word: Despite being a terribly-made movie in almost every aspect, 21 actually comes together as a fun and flashy weekend romp in Vegas. In that sense it's achieved its only purpose, since it would be preposterous to suggest it either tells a true story or includes any meaningful lessons. Sure to inspire a new generation of card counters in the same way Fight Club and Rounders created their respective subcultures, 21 is also the most successful commercial Las Vegas has ever produced for the college set (compared to what I accidentally saw this morning - the worst music video ever). Planet Hollywood, which opened just last year, clearly had a major advertising stake in 21, as did the Red Rock and Hard Rock casinos, neither of which are considered Vegas hotspots. Details aside, there are moments of cheap comedy (a fat kid eating Twinkies, Kevin Spacey in disguise, etc.) that try to hide the underlying tragedy: a movie that had almost unlimited potential has been turned into a lazy mess of clichés. At times like this you really have to wonder how the guy who directed Legally Blonde got his hands on the juiciest unproduced material that has come along in years. 21 strives to be a guilty pleasure at the highest level, but my inability to swallow major inaccuracies prevented me from having any fun, and more than once my movie-watching intelligence was insulted by the writing. In the end, I was left holding the bag full of chocolate gold bullion.

Picking Through the NYT Mag's 2007 Breakthroughs

This week's New York Times Magazine features 15 actors who had "breakthrough" performances in 2007. It's a nice glossy yearbook even though some of the photos are too artistic for my taste. There are some online pieces that complement the magazine:

+ NYT Mag editor at large Lynn Hirschberg narrates an audio slideshow of the magazine photos while making some odd observations:

• "The Assassination of Jesse James by the 'Outlaw' Robert Ford." Uh? Really small, but how do you make that mistake - by that I mean where does it even come from? Oh well, great to see Casey Affleck as first up here.
  
• Jim Sturgess - I loved him in Across the Universe, but saying "he will have one of the biggest careers that anyone will ever witness" seems a little much at this point.
• Edith Piaf, as played by Marion Cotillard, is "probably one of the most well-known singers of all time." If that were true, La Vie en Rose would have been a box-office smash.
  
• Seth Rogen has created a character that will carry him "throughout the next 50 years of his career." Ay, I hope he finds more defining characters in that time.
• Hal Holbrook - fine, great, I liked him, but WHERE is Emile Hirsch in this group?! This is an even more incredible snub than his lack of an Oscar nomination.
  
• Ellen Page is "this year's special star." Fine - truth be told, Hirschberg's accompanying article is one of the more concisely convincing pieces I've yet read about Page's talent. Makes me feel like she succeeded despite Diablo Cody's writing of Juno MacGuff's character, not because of it.
• Josh Brolin - No Country for Old Men is covered, but shouldn't there have also been mention of his 2007 work in American Gangster, In the Valley of Elah, and Grindhouse?
  

+ Ryan McGinley's music video, "Shooting Stars," offers a behind-the-scenes look at the photo shoot:

• The comedy in this is presumably unintentional - but really, really great. Each of the actors is placed in what look to be extremely uncomfortable settings and positions (laying down on ice, standing in front of fireworks or a fire, sitting in the snowy woods or a smoky cave, wading in cold surf, Seth Rogen feeding geese in a park?) while wearing a "What am I doing here?" expression on their face (best exhibited by Sienna Miller, Michael Cera, Casey Affleck and Josh Brolin). The music works, though.

+ Jake Paltrow - Gwyneth's brother - directs the short film Breakthroughs, in which 8 of the 15 breakthrough actors discuss the actors that inspired them:

• The beginning of this was really cool.
• Casey Affleck is a lot cooler than Ben Affleck.
• Ellen Page - "I loved Jurassic Park. I thought Laura Dern was super cool....and I just thought, how cool is this person?"
• Jim Sturgess (on River Phoenix - "This guy is very cool") is going to be really cool in future roles.
• James McAvoy's accent is pretty cool.
• Amy Ryan is cooler than Helene McCready.
• Paul Dano is cooler than I thought.
• Marion Cotillard's piece would have been cooler had she been speaking French.
• James Brolin has some cool insights, but he's not quite as cool as he thinks he is.

Neither am I.

REVIEW: Across The Universe (B+)

Background: Initially set for release in September of 2006, Across the Universe has been for the last year in the middle of a fierce battle between director Julie Taymor (Frida and the Broadway adaptation of “The Lion King”) and Revolution Studios executive Joe Roth. In some instances, directors have virtually no control of their film after it’s delivered to the studio, whose producers often make edits as they run the film through test screenings. Sometimes, the released version of the film is so much different than the “director’s cut” that the director asks their name to be removed from the film. (Tony Kaye apparently sued New Line Cinema for $275 million after they would not allow him to take his name off of American History X.) In the case of Across the Universe, the released cut is apparently closer to Taymor’s original, and the controversy has apparently faded, but not been forgotten. One other note about the film (which stars an incredible number of people who look familiar to you but you can't remember from what) is that almost all of the singing was recorded live and not post-dubbed, which is amazing to think about it as you're watching the scenes.

Synopsis: Jude is a dock worker from Liverpool; Max(well) and Lucy are teen siblings from Jersey; Prudence is a loner from Dayton, Ohio; JoJo is a guitar player from Detroit; and Sadie is a singer from the East Village. Their lives intersect throughout the 1960's as family, college, love, war and hippiedom shape their future. From the first frame to the last, the songs of the Beatles are sung by the characters, sometimes together, sometimes alone, and always in earnest. While Max is at war, the rest of the group struggle through relationships, drugs, fame, a political revolution, and surreal, trippy mindscapes. It's hard to say how many years pass from the beginning to the end, and even though the characters do not age at all, by the end everyone is somehow older, wiser, and in love with each other again.

I Loved:
+ Jim Sturgess channeling Ewan McGregor.
+ The art direction - it may be have been too much or too little at times, but the quality was altogether excellent. Excellent.
+ "Let It Be"; "Come Together"; "Dear Prudence"; "A Day in the Life"; "I Want You"; "Hey Jude"

I Liked:
+ "All You Need is Love"; "Girl"; "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"; "Happiness Is a Warm Gun"; "With a Little Help From My Friends"
+ The last minute, when Jude and Lucy make eye contact - one of the most believable love connections I think I've ever seen on screen.
+ The cameo by Bono, primarily because I would never otherwise get to hear him sing "I Am the Walrus" unless we were hanging out in a karaoke bar somewhere, and that's probably not going to happen.

I Disliked:
- "Strawberry Fields"; "Revolution"
- The cheap look of some of the special effects (i.e., helicopters in Vietnam).
- That the Beatles song lyrics were significantly better written than most of the dialogue in between.

I Hated:
- Not knowing what Julie Taymor really wanted to show and what we actually see - this might be worth a director's cut viewing.

Grade:
Writing - 8
Acting - 8
Production - 10
Emotional Impact - 10
Music - 5!
Significance - 3

Total: 44/50= 88% = B+

Last Word: I told my friend Matt when we walked out that I don't remember a movie I've gone so back and forth with in my mind. At its best, Across the Universe is like an incredible dream with an amazing soundtrack. At its worst, it's irritating and over-the-top. Think scenes from Rent, Moulin Rouge!, and Forrest Gump all jumbled into a movie. As much as I really liked the effort, the writing and acting could have, at times, been better. Still, I find myself wanting to see it again soon, which is unusual. If you don't know many Beatles songs, or are one who thinks their influence is overrated, you probably won't enjoy it. If you are a Beatles fan (and are open-minded about song reinterpretations), this will probably be one of your favorite movies of all time. I don't even know if it's a movie. It's an extended music video and a musical and an interpretive dance of some of the most popular songs of all time. Not having grown up with any exposure to the Beatles, I was really surprised at the number of songs I knew, plus I could think of a number that were missing (sorely, I might add - Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, In My Life, We Can Work It Out, Lady Madonna, Live and Let Die, Can't Buy Me Love, I'm Looking Through You, Here Comes The Sun, Ob La Di, Ob La Da, and on, and on, and on!). I don't know, the more I think about it, the more I liked Across the Universe. I think that's because the good parts were really, really good. And I admire Julie Taymor's ambition with it. At the very least she's extended the Beatles legacy for another generation, and made some new movie stars while doing it.