"21" Was Bad, Which Is Too Bad
When I heard that they were making a movie out of Ben Mezrich's brilliant Bringing Down The House, my only wish was that they stuck to the book as much as possible. Even if the acting and filmmaking had been bad, a movie that was actually based on the book would have been fine.
Unfortunately, 21 wasn't based on Bringing Down The House. Well, other than the fact that it was about some MIT nerds who "take" Vegas. That's about it. Otherwise, the plot is totally different, and everything that made the book fantastic -- the thrilling intensity of liberating chips from the casinos, and the fantastically intricate process of doing so, was expunged from the story.
In a way, the plot of the movie was actually more plausible than the book (how it actually happened).
Anyway, I could go on and say it was "paint by numbers", which it was, in spades, and talk about all kinds of bad points. But, if you've never read or seen either, read the book and skip the flick.
How about a "Calculated Bets" movie? Jai Alai, college prof who figures out the inefficiencies, and the (fill in the blank). Can't be the "house" as the house in Jai Alai just wants people to bet.
Thanks for the rec. on a great book btw.
Posted by: Andrew Schmitt | April 06, 2008 at 02:54 PM