"21” is a sluggish adaptation of a book by Ben Mezrich that chronicles the real-life story of six M.I.T. students who took Las Vegas for millions of dollars, as a team of card-counting Blackjack players. Directed by Robert Luketic and written by Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb this oversimplified rendering leaves out much of the exposition addressed in the popular book.

When Ben (Jim Sturgess) a wildly intelligent, but economically challenged, M.I.T. undergrad discovers that his hopes of receiving a $300,000 scholarship into Harvard Medical School are minimal at best, he begins to contemplate the possibilities of how he might accomplish the seemingly impossible task of raising the funds himself.

But after impressing Professor Rosa (Kevin Spacey), Ben finds himself being recruited to a secret club of card players, comprised of high-level math students who are being instructed by Rosa in the method of counting cards, with the promise of lucrative weekend trips to Las Vegas. Initially, Ben rejects the offer to join their group but with his financial burdens looming overhead, he finally succumbs to the pressure, and takes Professor Rosa up on his offer.

In a frantic series of montages, Ben is shown learning the method of counting cards as well as a system of word association for the tag team players who signal when a table is “hot” or “cold.” Ben finally gets his chance to exhibit his newly-acquired skills in Vegas and, of course, the team “cleans-up.” As Ben begins to see his financial woes vanish, he is simultaneously “hooked” on the seductive concept of “easy money,” until an aggressive casino security consultant (Laurence Fishburne) takes notice of Rosa and his young crew.

While the performances in this film are adequate, Sturgess fares the best with his role offering a blend of both naivete and intoxication as he becomes immersed in the process of gambling. Spacey and Fishburne aren’t given enough dialogue or character development to really illuminate much about their backgrounds and the rest of the young cast succeeds mostly in looking attractive in an array of disguises used to conceal their identities.

While movie-goers may enjoy some of the casino action, and brief moments of humor, “21” is a predominantly unsatisfying effort poised to move from the box office to DVD shelves quickly.

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