21

21.....blackjack.....pontoon.....or whatever.

Jim Sturgess is the student whiz kid in need of funds to pay for his education who is recruited by his teacher, Kevin Spacey, to join a team of bright students who use a memory scheme to win big at the casinos in Las Vegas.

I took a shine to Sturgess in The Beatles music movie Across The Universe and I have always enjoyed Spacey as an actor. They are the best aspects of this movie; Sturgess appealing as the shy, good boy at heart and Spacey doing his specialist turn as the devil in disguise.

The rest of the cast is less interesting in a movie where it is best not to think logically or too carefully about the massive holes in the plot. Otherwise, the movie filled in two hours late on a cold Saturday afternoon.