Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a shy, brilliant M.I.T. student who – needing to pay school tuition – finds the answers in the cards. He is recruited to join a group of the school's most gifted students that heads to Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack in their favor. With unorthodox math professor and stats genius Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) leading the way, they've cracked the code. By counting cards and employing an intricate system of signals, the team can beat the casinos big time. Seduced by the money, the Vegas lifestyle, and by his smart and sexy teammate, Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), Ben begins to push the limits. Though counting cards isn't illegal, the stakes are high, and the challenge becomes not only keeping the numbers straight, but staying one step ahead of the casinos' menacing enforcer, Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne).
Although this movie was beyond formula, it was very enjoyable. Kevin Spacey is a phenomenal actor and Jim Sturgess seems to be well on his way to getting to that level. Most important for me actor wise in this movie though was that Laurence Fishburne finally returned to the tough guy demeanor that he kicked ass at in The Matrix before becoming such a whiny little side kick in the two Matrix sequels. I still don't understand how people can count cards after seeing this movie even though they blatantly explain it at one point. I also still question how lame their signals to each other were when working the tables. I also don't understand how Jim Sturgess was starting to be recognized upon entry in to the different casinos even though I thought he was under different personas every time. Regardless of all these nagging issues, I still found myself totally enjoying this movie from start to end with all the twists and turns even though I pretty much saw every one of them coming.
I'd recommend people checking this bad boy out. Its a pretty good watch and worth your time.
