Probability of Numbers

Nothing genius.

21 seems to focus itself more on playing/beating Blackjack rather than the stories of the characters playing it. It is the star of the movie rather just playing a part in the characters' lives. With that, there's not much risk at stake for the characters especially with Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) who was forced to join a group of players who "count cards" in Las Vegas in order to put himself through medical school. Other than that, there's not much else to follow about his story. It wasn't even made clear what would happen to them if they get busted by the authorities. And when he got caught and turned his cards around against their mentor (Kevin Spacey), it failed to create tension onscreen. There was even a point that the movie need not show their trick since it isn't a heist movie in the first place. It isn't Ocean's 11.

21 was based on an actual event with an actual Math genius. But the movie is nothing genius. As they say, numbers are predictable. So is this movie!


Disconnected.

Rendition seems contrite with how the characters are tied together. It is about a man who was thought of as terrorist and his wife's attempt to find him played by Reese Witherspoon. (But neither of them is the protagonist. It is the CIA analyst who watches the torture of the suspected terrorist to obtain information played by Jake Gyllenhall.) If the plot was that simple then attention wouldn't get lost along the way. Different characters come in between that weren't fleshed-out. They play major parts in the bombing that took place, but this isn't Babel or Crash or Amores Perros where their lives simply interconnects with an event. They are not hard to follow, yet you plainly do not care about them. Even Meryl Streep's tough role ala Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men seems lacking in depth and stress.

Maybe one problem that the movie was faced with was it tried to be different things all at once. It is about terrorism and how (innocent) lives are affected by it. It is about torture (and torturing innocent people) being used to get information. It is about revenge. It is about standing for your beliefs whether other sees it right or wrong. It is about the family that US government supports and destroys at the same time. With such hefty number of themes, no wonder the priorities got screwed-up . Even one of the film's timelines got off-tracked leaving you confused and cheated.

The movie lacks enough emotions and thrill to keep the audience connected with the characters. Such a powerful cast in a lackluster film.