I’m starting a new segment here that I’m calling Retro Reviews.  Here’s how it works:

-          Films must be watched in alphabetical order.

-          TV Series are not allowed.

-          For now, film within a series will be watched chronologically once the first is reached alphabetically

-          Exceptions can be made for movies that are rented, but only if they are new.

Those are the basics.  As of this moment, between my wife’s and my own collection of films, we have 276 movies on DVD.  The point of this process is to study films that I either would never watch for any particular reason (ie: Failure to Launch) and to hopefully rediscover films that I have not viewed in some time.

My lovely wife is at somewhat of a disadvantage because my share is much greater in number than hers, which basically means that more science-fiction, action/adventure (read: “better”) films will be screened.

All that being said, the first film screened for this series belongs to my wife.

I don’t want to get bogged down in describing the plot of the film, since in the age of the internet, you have the tools to research that yourself.  My initial reaction to the film was “pretty good.”  The story is intriguing enough and has just about all the classic beats to make the story interesting.  The acting is decent, for the most part.  However, were it not for Kevin Spacey, this category would be severely lacking.

Jim Sturgess plays the lead character, a young man by the name of Ben-something who wants so badly to get into Harvard Med, but needs to make sure that he has the $300,000 to afford it.  This is where Kevin Spacey comes in to save the day.  A professor at Ben-something’s college (MIT), Mr. Spacey has put together a team of bright young students in order to strike it rich by counting cards in… you guessed it, 21.

"Time to win some old-fashioned Rummy!" "Twenty-one." "Whatever."

I don’t know what it is that has always drawn me to stories of card games.  It probably has a lot to do with the fact that most card games rely less on the cards and more on the people holding them.  21 tries to combine the two as a modern successor to Rounders.  The problem with this is that it’s really hard to sympathize with our main character, Ben-something.  He’s boring, he’s whiny, and he goes to MIT which means that he’s super-brainy and can’t be doing that bad financially.

Throughout the film we only get the sense that he’s changed very little.  Sure, by the end he’s a bit wiser and maybe has come out of his shell a touch, but he’s essentially the same person, just older and tinged with a small amount of remorse.  And the whole “love story” sub-plot with Kate Bosworth felt completely tacked on just to give Ben-something something to do. Many of the supporting characters also seem to serve very little purpose other than to allow Ben-something the opportunity to make lotsa da cash.

Kevin Spacey, as previously mentioned, is the one exception who is convincing as the conniving professor chasing some of his former glory.  The problem with his character and with the story as a whole was that he wasn’t really the bad guy.  And neither was the other “bad guy,” a casino security expert played by Larry Fishburne. Both characters are more of an inconvenience than a personal threat, and the only thing generally on the line is a buttload of cash.  I need more than that.  If his “relationship” with Kate Bosworth was actually at risk, it might have hooked me more.  Say, if she were kidnapped and Ben-something had to rescue her.

"Larry, someone farted in here." "Wasn't Me." BLUFF.

The pacing of the film dies about halfway through and you start really feeling the minutes slowly ticking away.  You’ll find that this is one of my main peeves when watching (or creating) any film.  If the pace starts to crawl, then you really begin to lose me as an audience member.   The first act is brisk, even leading into the second act when the scheme has begun in Vegas I was right with the story. Then it goes on a little too long. All in all, the film could stand to lose about 30 minutes without drastically altering anything.

The Takeaway:

-          Instead of giving me eight to ten so-so characters, really take the time to explore the ones that matter.  Losing money is never the best threat to a main character.  Show me the human element behind that.

-          Pacing is everything. All of the right elements and beats are not enough to hold an audience. Unless you are Lord of the Rings.

Up Next: 27 Dresses (Obviously not mine)