The new movie 21 is based on the true story of MIT students who raised money card counting in Vegas for medical school. Well OK, maybe they were graduates of MIT, Princeton and other schools who card counted mostly in Atlantic City to raise money for… well for whatever you can buy with money. The true story is documented in the book Bringing Down the House and not in the movie. Much of the negative press about the movie is that the movie has little to do with the book. Let’s just establish that and move on.

So Hollywood has a rather freewheeling definition of “based on reality”. I think we already knew that. In any given Civil War movie I would give the South an even money chance of winning the whole shebang. But, they also can make some fine entertainment when they put their minds to it and this story is just that. 21 delivers action, romance and a few surprises. The cast led by young Jim Sturgess (also featuring Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, and Laurence Fishburne) turned in a fine performance against a solid script. Go see 21, it’s a natural.