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This little movie with very few well known actors is about using a system of gambling on blackjack called "counting cards." Kevin Spacey plays Micky Rosa, a math professor at MIT, who recruits and trains students in the system and then flies them to Las Vegas to work the system. They will share the profits 50% for Rosa and the rest shared equally among the student team--5 of them for 10% each. Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgis) is recruited as the head leader on the team because he is supersmart in Math at MIT. He resists at first, but he really does have a need for money because he wants to go to Harvard Medical School as soon as he graduates from MIT. The bill for Harvard Medical School will be $300,000, and he is just getting by working in a men's store in Boston. We also learn at the beginning of the movie that he is one of 76 to apply for a full scholarship to Harvard, but his Harvard counselor tells him that it is unlikely that he will get the scholarship. He needs "something to really dazzle the scholarship committee." Enter Jill (Kate Bosworth), whom Ben has had his eye on, and who convinces him to join the team. The movie shows the team going to Las Vegas several times and working the system. Ben amasses money big time and hides it above the ceiling tiles of his dorm room. But unknowing to him, the casino security team in Las Vegas is hot on his trail. Led by Cole Williams (Lawrence Fishburne of "Matrix" fame), they are using face tracking (like finger printing of your face) to track Ben as he goes to and from blackjack tables. You see, "counting cards" is an illegal system in Las Vegas. And the casino operators are not happy when someone continues to win too much over and over. From here, you are on your own. This movie is based on a true story written in a book called "Bringing Down the House." Although my DVD seemed to have audio problems with the voices too low and the music too high, subtitles saved the day. The story does satisfy, and you will have a good idea of the system when it is on display in the movie. The ending to the movie does please too. It is a nice ride.Read full review
Really slick movie about real-life card sharking in the casinos of Las Vegas. For the most part, only a few have the analytical skills to successfully count cards and process that information without being caught. It isn't illegal, but you will wind up in an alley with your brains lying beside you, if you get caught. You see, casinos don't plan to lose, and when they do, someone's ass is usually in the wringer. This movie is a story of teamwork between specially trained card players. Not just ordinary people, but a bunch of MIT geniuses. That's right, real geniuses, and they got away with it - until they got caught! This is a clever movie in the "Ocean's 11" genre. My uncle, who used to be a lifetime gambler, and incidentally, died broke, once told me - "You can never beat a man at his own game"; Enough said.Read full review
Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) gives a great performance as an MIT Professor who recruits students to be part of his black jack card counting gang. Ben Campbell plays the "A+ Student" who is recruited to be the main player. Laurence Fishburne (Cole Williams) also gives an outstanding performance. The movie starts out a bit slow as the Director spends a bit too much time introducing the characters. After that the movie takes off and draws you into the life of High Stakes Gambling. Overall the movie is very entertaining and I would recommend it to anyone who likes movies. Rated 4 of 5 for another outstanding performance by a strong cast.
After Reading Ben Mezrich's "Bringing Down the House", upon which this movie is based, I was excited to the movie. I am usually let down by movies that are based on books, but that was not the case this time. Although there were a handful of cliché parts of the movie, all in all it was excellently done. The visual effects were well done, and the acting on the part of Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, and Kate Bosworth, was exemplary. Some people may criticize Spacey for his 'gusto', but I believe his portrayal of Mickey was stellar. The movie had suspense, a solid plot line, scattered funny scenes, and a good ending. The people I went with, none of whom had read the book, found it an even better movie than I did. If you like the movie enough, I recommend reading the book for a more complete story.Read full review
I read numerous books on this exact topic, so I was extremely excited for the movie to come out. I was a bit disappointed to see the story focus much more on the characters than on the whole card counting method. The early part of the movie, where the main character learns to count cards is true to form, but a lot of other things are out of nowhere and have no factual basis. This movie never says it represents the actual story, so they were able to deviate from the true story quite a bit. Overall the movie was good, but if included a bit more of the facts, and showed a bit more of the methods used to count the cards, it would have been great for people, like myself, who followed the real story closely.
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