Directed by: Robert Luketic
Produced by: Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, Dana Brunetti, Michael DeLuca
Written by: Ben Mezrich, Peter Steinfeld, Allan Loeb, Chris Kalyvas
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Liza Lapira, Aaron Yoo, Josh Gad, Jacob Pitts, Kieu Chinh
Music by: David Sardy
Cinematography: Russell Carpenter
Editing by: Elliot Graham
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release date: March 28, 2008 (2008-03-28)
Running time: 123 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $35 million
Gross revenue: $157,927,340

21 is a 2008 drama film from Columbia Pictures. It is directed by Australian director Robert Luketic and stars Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Bosworth, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, and Aaron Yoo. The film is inspired by the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team as told in Bringing Down the House, the best-selling book by Ben Mezrich.

The film received accusations of ‘whitewashing’ due to the fact that the real MIT Blackjack Team was predominantly composed of Asian Americans, while the film portrayal was a predominantly white cast. Organizations such as the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) spoke out against the film and its producers’ alleged mixed messages about casting decisions. Despite its largely negative reviews, 21 was a box office success and was the number one film during its first and second weekends of release.

Links

• Official website
• 21 at the Internet Movie Database
• 21 at Rotten Tomatoes
• 21 at Metacritic
• 21 at Box Office Mojo
• 21 at Allmovie
• MIT Alumnus and Busting Vegas Author Describe Experience of Beating the House
• Photos of the filming of 21 near the campus of MIT: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
• Official world wide release dates with links to different national sites

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.