Review: 21 (2 stars)
On Friday, Snarkykat and I went to see 21. While the movie is enjoyable at times, the scenes in Vegas are completely unbelievable (very mild spoilage below):
* The team spends way too much time together in Vegas, so it would be simple to identify and flag them as a team. According to Snarkykat, in the book they all travelled to Vegas independently and *NEVER* talked.
* The “hot table” signal is horrible. It generally consists of the spotter obviously making eye contact and then obtrusively crossing her arms behind her. Even the dumbest pit boss would pick up on the signal.
* The “old Vegas” beatdowns are entirely unbelievable — can you say DNA evidence?
* The med school justification for the primary character is (according to Snarkykat) entirely invented in the screenplay and turns the story into a bad sitcom.
Don’t go to the theatre for this one ($14 bucks for two matinee tickets!?!?!), wait to watch it at home if you are really interested.
It did look like it was one better suited to a DVD rental. I have the book, but I haven’t managed to read it yet though I’ve had it for a little over 3 years (I think).