21

Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent student at M.I.T. who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 tuition as he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor to a small but secretive club of five students, Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Fisher, who are being trained by Professor Rosa to count cards at blackjack.

Critics largely found '21' a glossy but hollow dramatization that trades the genuinely compelling true story for generic Hollywood melodrama. The cast and slick production earn some goodwill, but most reviewers felt the film never escapes a sense of contrivance — audiences, however, warmed to it more than critics did.