So now that I'm finally getting a paycheck again, I decided to renew my account. With all luck, you should be getting a pair of reviews from me each week again from here on out.
We mark the return of the NMR with last spring's moderately successful film, 21. It's ironic that the last Netflix film I rented before shutting down my account also had to do with Vegas and playing cards (The Grand). I never intended for that, but it ends up being a nice case of symmetry.
If you unfamiliar with the premise of 21, it's loosely based on a real life story about a group of MIT students who create a system of counting cards to win big at Blackjack. And just like the students learned how to figure out what card was coming next, this movie was made in a way that I knew exactly what was coming next. Everything about this movie breeds familiarity. While this isn't the worst quality in a film, it's still disappointing because I feel like I'm watching a rerun. There is one semi-twist at the end, but if you think hard, you can even figure that one out too. Despite its obviousness, the film had a chance to rise above it had it been able to succeed on the cool factor. Unfortunately, they play things straight forward, and doesn't have any of the hipness that you would find in a film like Ocean's Eleven. All of the acting performances are fine, but nothing that is truly memorable. This movie ends up being the epitome of average. Nothing bad about it, but nothing special about it either. Netflix rating: ***
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